King of Mars
by HG Rising
Summary: AU. Starts preseries. What are the children of Neptune hiding? Hell, what are the parents of Neptune hiding? But most importantly, why was Lilly Kane's best friend Veronica Mars? An alternative and darker reason for their friendship that triggers Veronica's change. There is redemption for some and condemnation for others when secrets are revealed. And everyone has a good one.
1. Chapter 1

**King of Mars**

A/N: Sorry to the people who were looking for other story/pairing alerts, but this is a LoVe story. This is extremely AU and is based off of why Lilly was really friends with Veronica as the jumping off point for a series of events that cover parts of the series and my own plot creations. It starts off at the end of the school year. Lilly is just about to finish tenth grade. Duncan and Logan are friends. Logan and Lilly are not together. The rest are finishing up ninth grade, except for Cassidy who is finishing up eighth grade.

Chapter 1

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Headmaster Richard Commons fought off the imminent headache threatening to overtake him. It was not his first meeting with Jake and Celeste Kane. Lilly had been in trouble various times before, and the meetings usually ended with a generous donation made to the school and all charges dropped. He spared a glance at the three figures in front of him. What he saw only supported his decision.

Lilly Kane would not be returning to Harvard-Westlake High School for her junior year.

.

Lilly sat through the meeting with her arms and legs crossed. She kept her face impassive but her eyes were trained on her parents. They hadn't looked her way once.

From what she could see, her mother had a lovely shade of red creeping up past the neckline of her blouse. Her father only looked mildly disappointed, as if he expected this from her.

This was getting ridiculous. There was only so much stereotypical behavior Lilly could engage in to get some attention from her parents. Duncan's existence alone was enough to garner their attention, Lilly thought bitterly. It wasn't as if she _didn't_ have fun acting unruly now or that she _didn't_ enjoy seeing the way her mother's lips pursed and fists clenched when she misbehaved, because she _did_. But, somewhere along the line of pretending to act out to get her parent's behavior, Lilly stopped pretending and it came naturally to her.

She tuned in just enough to the adults' conversation to hear the Headmaster kick her out. Well. Fuck.

She focused on her parents once more to see their reaction. Still not one glance at her. Well. Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

.

It was times like these that Celeste Kane couldn't help but blame Lianne Mars.

Logically, Lianne had no real part in her daughter choosing to screw the school's administrative worker, but Lianne was the catalyst that led them here.

Lianne was to blame for everything wrong in her life. For dating her husband, for screwing her husband, for playing the perfect suburban housewife to _her _husband. But most of all, for having a child with her husband. Oh, she knew about Lianne and Jake's affair. She'd known for years, long before Lilly was born. Business trips could only be a valid excuse for so long before Celeste hired a private investigator to tail hm.

Once she found out about the affair, Celeste began to keep tabs on Lianne, too. Keep your enemies close, after all.

Imagine her surprise when she found out that Lianne was pregnant. She just _knew_ it was Jake's. She only suspected at first, but things were confirmed when Jake had become more absent. Right after Celeste herself had just given birth to Lilly.

Celeste bristled at the thought of Lilly. Lilly was a reminder of Celeste's mistake. It was early on in their marriage, and Celeste had just discovered her husband's affair. Lilly was the product of jealousy and spite. She had hoped that Lilly was Jake's child, but the golden tuft of hair on baby Lilly's hair confirmed her fears. She had to have been Cyrus O'Dell's. And though she had never told Cyrus, she had a feeling Cyrus had figured it out over the years.

Cyrus was not a stupid man. They ran in the same social groups, he had to have seen Lilly's golden hair and connected the dots. Luckily for Celeste, Cyrus never contested to Lilly's assumed paternity, and he and Celeste had never spoken since.

Jake was not a stupid man either. He was just blinded, Celeste figured. The morning before Celeste went into labor with Lilly, her private investigator informed her that Lianne was pregnant. Lianne must have told Jake that very day. Thus, Jake never paid any attention to the painfully obvious evidence of infidelity.

Celeste blamed Lianne Mars for everything.

She glared at the man who was currently trying to buy Lilly's way out of trouble.

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Jake Kane was not up to date in the world of science. He was more into technology. However, he couldn't help but weigh in on the nature vs. nurture debate.

To his side sat his daughter, Lilly, who had just been caught sleeping with a common white collared worker in exchange for passing grades. Yet somewhere in Neptune sat his other daughter, Veronica, who was receiving top marks and was in the running to be valedictorian.

Jake didn't think he was a bad father. He provided for his family. His wife and children had everything they could have ever wanted. More specifically, Lilly had everything she had ever asked for, but she turned out nothing like the child he and Lianne had together. From the many pictures Lianne showed him and the stories she told, Veronica was sweet and innocent, smart and sensible. Perfect, really.

Knowing what he knew, Jake knew genetics couldn't be at fault here. But perhaps he could blame the Los Angeles environment. It was bad for Lilly. Maybe he could persuade Celeste into letting them move back to his hometown. What was good for Veronica had to be good for Lilly, too.

Of course, it didn't hurt that he'd be closer to his lover.

He hoped that Duncan wouldn't mind the move. His preparations for Duncan's future in politics would be all for naught if he started rebelling now.

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A boy sat outside in the austere halls outside the Headmaster's office. The halls were designed and decorated to look centuries of years old, established. However, in reality, this building was erected only a mere decade ago when the school had become coed.

Duncan Kane was tense and furious. Lilly had been fucking someone in exchange for grades. Lilly had been fucking someone. Lilly had been fucking. Lilly. Fucking Lilly. Fuck.

Duncan knew that Lilly knew about her reputation among the boys and practically everyone who walked their school's hallowed halls.

She was known as a tease, a slut, a good time for all. Just give her a call. Hell, her phone number was written in quite a few bathroom stalls. And Lilly didn't care. She loved to have fun. To have sex. But Duncan cared. He cared all too much.

A few times, he had lost control of his anger. Once, he punched a cameraman at one of his soccer matches. It was a particularly trying day for Duncan, his mother had gotten rid of his beloved dog, Molly, without even blinking, and he recognized the guy behind the bleachers with Lilly before the start of the game. He couldn't wait to get his chance. The guy had gotten just close enough for him to use any excuse to punch him. It was satisfying to hear the sickening crunch of bones breaking.

This was what Lilly had reduced him to. Punching whoever touched her. She forced him to protect her from these people. But, if he were really honest with himself, he'd know that he should really protect her from himself.

His late night dreams had gotten progressively vivid over the past year. They weren't vague or abstract thoughts of the forbidden anymore. He and Lilly were actively engaged in sex, and he enjoyed it. He dreamt that she enjoyed it, laughing in delight like she always did. On more than a few occasions, he woke up to find his sheets stained.

He couldn't hear anything through the heavy wooden door, but that didn't mean that no punishment was being meted out. He was sure Lilly would be expelled this time. However, he didn't feel relieved by this. He didn't feel relieved at all. He didn't want to be free from his sister's suffocating yet intoxicating presence.

Resigned, he rested his head in his hands. He'll ask his parents later to let him to follow Lilly.

He groaned. He would always be chasing Lilly.

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Logan Echolls had heard about Lilly and the office worker through the grape vine from just about everyone. He felt disappointed in himself for letting it reach Duncan's ears, too.

Since they had become friends, Logan had desperately tried to keep the whispers away from Duncan because he knew Duncan was incredibly protective of Lilly. He himself didn't understand the reason to be so overprotective with his sister. But that was because _Trina_ failed spectacularly at being a sister.

Logan remembered exactly how he and Duncan first became friends, and exactly when he started considering Duncan as someone who was _good_. A veritable White Knight. A foil to his own Dark Prince character.

The paparazzi had shown up to his soccer match to capture candid pictures of his father, Aaron Echolls. However, one of them had also been slinking around and distracting him from his soccer match by getting onto the sidelines of the field. During halftime, the guy had bombarded Logan with questions about his father's infidelity with a costar on the set of his most recent film. Logan was just about to snap when the cameraman had asked Logan if his mother, Lynn, had gotten plastic surgery because of Aaron's alleged affair; however, Duncan beat him to the punch. And what a magnificent punch it was.

Duncan came out of nowhere, slugged him across the face, and pummeled him to the ground. It took Logan and another teammate to pull Duncan off of the guy. For his troubles, Duncan was benched for the rest of the game. The Kane influence was evident.

After the match, Logan had asked Duncan why he beat up the other guy, and Duncan simply claimed that he had no business talking about those kinds of thing. Thus began their friendship.

And thus began Logan's regular beatings of anyone who dared talk about Lilly's _extracurricular activities_ in front of Duncan. Logan figured that if mothers were off limits for Duncan, he must have felt the same way about sisters, too.

Logan sighed. He didn't think Lilly would get off with a suspension this time. If the other rumors were true, this wasn't the first time Lilly did this kind of thing. Money could only go so far when reputation was at stake. For an old and prestigious school like Harvard-Westlake, money was not in short supply. That meant no amount of money from 'Daddy dearest', as Lilly had referred to him, would get her out of being expelled.

What would it mean for Logan if Lilly was expelled? Duncan would surely follow his sister to protect her wherever she went.

He wasn't willing to let go of his only true friend.

He wondered if Aaron would let him follow the Kane siblings.

.

Dick Casablancas and Veronica Mars had been studying for their geometry final for the past hour. Cassidy, or Beaver as some called him when not in vicinity of Veronica's wrath, was Dick's brother. He had been sitting on Veronica's right side and talking to her quietly as Dick attempted to determine the angles of multiple intersecting lines. This was a frequently observed scene in the Casablancas' household. Since third grade, Veronica had been Dick's tutor of sorts, helping him when she could so that he wouldn't have to repeat a grade or a class.

It began when Veronica had been elected third grade class monitor, and the seating arrangements had left Dick and Veronica paired up. It was then that Veronica finally noticed Dick's scores and apologize profusely for failing Dick as classroom monitor. Veronica then vowed that as long as she was there, she would help Dick with his academics. Being a girl of her word, Veronica had spent the next years tutoring Dick, and Dick was eternally grateful. Dick wasn't smart, but it didn't mean that he didn't care. It wasn't so unbelievable that the two became close friends.

"You like mysteries, right, Veronica?"

Veronica raised an eyebrow in response, anticipating his next words.

Dick continued, "Tell me exactly when I'm going to use all this because I can't figure it out." He gestured towards his geometry book.

Chuckling, she teasingly said, "Hopefully never. Because if we're lucky, you'll never be involved in the planning stages of building one of your dad's properties."

Dick was about to respond when a tune that sounded suspiciously like the music that announced Darth Vader's appearance sounded through the air.

"Hey, Maddie, babe. What's up?" A pause. "Nothing much, just studying." Another pause. "Yeah, really. With Cass." A short pause. "Just with Cass."

Veronica and Cassidy rolled their eyes. Madison, Dick's girlfriend, did not approve of Veronica. But Veronica didn't take it too personally. Madison didn't approve of any girls around Dick. Or any girls in general.

Cassidy started doing an impression of Madison, and Veronica held in her giggles. Dick shot them a glare, but he wasn't really mad. He was well aware of what they thought of Madison. He even thought that way about her himself, but he couldn't forget how Madison used to be when he first had a crush on her.

It was sixth grade, and twelve year old Dick was smitten with the kind, yet mischievous, Madison Sinclair. She was on par with Meg Manning levels of kindness, but she always laughed at and enjoyed his pranks. Sometimes she would even join in. She also often defended Dick when the other kids were laughing behind his back and mocking his stupidity.

And that was who Dick fell in love with. But Madison eventually changed, and Dick didn't let go of his memories of the old Madison. And when Madison asked him to be her boyfriend, Dick jumped at the chance to live out his boyhood dreams. Though, now it was Madison who took to mocking him.

And he was still looking for the Madison he fell in love with.

After half an hour on the phone with Madison, Veronica whispered to Dick to get off the phone so that he could study.

"Sorry, babe. Gotta get back to studying."

Veronica heard her screams while Dick hastily said goodbye.

"Good to know all that backstabbing hasn't hurt her throat."

"It's not like that, Ronnie."

"So you mean that piece of chewed gum really _did _just find its way into my hair that day? Huh. I guess I should get started on my strongly worded letter to Wrigley's."

"You look hotter with short hair anyway," he defended weakly. She quirked her eyebrow again and lifted a corner of her lips. Quick to change the subject, he said, "So, guess what Madison just told me."

"The person she thought was a hideous stalker was actually just her reflection?"

Cassidy snorted.

"Cute, Ronnie. No. She found that out weeks ago." They all laughed now. "Seriously though, do the names Kane or Echolls ring any bells?"

"Citizen Kane," suggested Veronica.

"Jake Kane, the software billionaire? And… Aaron Echolls, the movie star?" Cassidy supplied helpfully.

"Bingo, baby bro. Maddie just told me that Shelley told her that the Kanes and the Echollses… Echolls… Echollseses… No. Wait. One octopus. Two octopi. So, one Echolls. Two Echolli, right? Whatever. The point is, both families are moving here and they both have kids around our age."

"At least you're pretty," she said. She patted him on the head exaggeratedly to let him know she was joking.

"Be serious here," he pouted.

"Alright. They're coming here. So what? You want to give them a warm Neptune welcome? I always knew you were a big softie." Veronica smiled. "I'll get started on those friendship bracelets right away. You think those big city folk will like purple?"

Dick clamped his hand over her mouth. "Let me finish. Madison said Duncan Kane and Logan Echolls are going to be in our grade next year. And Lilly Kane is in the grade above us. And then she started bitching about how Lilly better not pull any shit on her, but I'll spare you two the details. You're welcome." He released Veronica's mouth. "Now can I get a 'Thank you, bestest friend and best big brother ever. Without you, I would never know what went on in my own school.'"

Instead he got, "Be still my beating heart. I can barely take it." She clutched her heart with one hand dramatically. "Does that work for you?"

"Come on, Ronnie. We haven't had a new kid in, like, forever."

"Untrue, Sean Friedrich moved here before high school. That was, 'like'—" she air quoted the word "—one year ago."

"Shh. Hold up. Hear that?" He looked around wildly.

Veronica looked from side to side, too. "Hear what?"

"I think I hear a murderer."

Veronica was on the defensive, "What?"

"Yeah. it's you. You're killing my buzz, woman."

Only slightly amused, she shook her head and said, "Back to work, boy."

"Slave driver."

"Not today. Forgot the whip."

When Dick looked down quickly after sticking his tongue out at her, Cassidy leaned over and whispered into Veronica's ear, "Ten bucks says Madison breaks up with Dick to hook up with either Duncan or Logan or both."

Veronica carefully took out her ID and showed it to Cassidy. Whispering back into Cassidy's ear, Veronica used her best naively perplexed voice and said, "Interesting, it says here I _wasn't_ born yesterday. What do you make of that?"

Cassidy smiled back and ducked his head thinking that maybe she wasn't born yesterday, but he wouldn't have minded if Veronica was born even just a year earlier.

.

Writing 'Madison Sinclair' on her geometry test, Madison thought and paused. Or was it 'Madison Mackenzie'? She scowled. She hated that name. She hated alliteration. Sinclair sounded so much nicer anyway. It was so much more upper class, much like herself. She smirked haughtily at the paper.

Madison's parents didn't think she knew, but she did. She stumbled upon their secret in sixth grade. She had immediately gone to her parent's room after the chauffeur picked her up from school and dropped her off to show her parents the perfect score she got on her math test. She had sensed something was off when she realized her parents were speaking with raised voices. They never did that unless they were fighting. Madison put her ear up to the door and listened even more intently. That was when she overheard them talking about Cindy Mackenzie.

At the time, Madison had been bringing her over to hang around with, and at first, Madison thought she was in trouble and her parents didn't like Cindy. Her confusion and worry grew when her father said it wasn't time for the girls to know yet. Know what, Madison wondered. And then it came, her mother had shouted that the girls were old enough to recognize that they looked nothing like the people who raised them. Her mother continued shouting in a panicked voice that if they kept hanging out with each other, they'd start noticing that they looked more like each others' parents. She said that she didn't want the girls to hate them for keeping it a secret. She said that she wanted to get to know her biological daughter, too. And, she said that they'd eventually realize or one of the parents would let it slip, that they were switched at birth.

Ironic.

Madison couldn't breathe and backed away from her parent's door after that. Her test was crumpled tightly in her small hands but was essentially forgotten. Madison's world had been shaken that day.

Her emotions went into overdrive. She was confused and unsure if what she heard was true. She was scared when she accepted that her mother had no reason to lie. She was sad when she asked herself what her real parents were thinking. Did they think about her? Where were they? They've had twelve years to talk to her.

She'd seen Cindy's parents, _her biological parents_, occasionally. She hadn't been to Cindy's house yet, but she'd met them a few times while she waited with Cindy for her parents to come pick her up. It was usually Cindy's mother who would warmly and excitedly wave Cindy over to hug her and help her into the car. Cindy's mother would smile goodbye to her. It was _her_ mother who would smile goodbye to her. Just a smile before leaving with the daughter she had chosen while Madison walked over to her family chauffeur who greeted her professionally before opening the door to the car. She never received that kind of love that Cindy probably received constantly from either of her parents, real or fake. She became furious. As furious as any twelve year old could be handling a situation she didn't quite comprehend.

She threw a tantrum that day and was rewarded with a ruby red hair clip from Tiffany's. She didn't overhear any mention of Cindy again.

The day she felt that anger was the day she started her descent. She realized that she could get her way simply by pretending to throw fits or be mad at her parents. It was really too easy. But they hadn't been very good parents to start with. Not like the Mackenzies.

At school, she started to deal with her emotions irrationally and manipulatively, too. She asserted herself as the most popular and therefore most powerful girl in their class. Most of her peers responded favorably, from her point of view, to her assertion, especially when she paired herself with Dick. She had an inkling he had a crush on her and used that to exploit his popularity to support her own. Stupid as he may be, the boy was well liked by everyone. And rich. She then lashed out at Cindy and got others to join her. Even now, she never let up and never planned to.

She squinted and continued staring at the girl who was now shaking her head slightly. The girl was sitting two rows in front and one seat to the left of her, and Madison could see the striking resemblance to her own mother.

Madison sighed, returning to her test and recalling her talk with Dick last night. She sneered at the thought of Lilly Kane dethroning her and stealing her rightful position at the top of Neptune High's social ladder. Then again, it couldn't hurt to reinforce her claim to the throne. She supposed that she better pick a fight with him soon so that she'd be free to hit on both Duncan and Logan in the summer.

.

Aware of the daggers being sent her way, Mac still breezed through her test. She wondered what she could have possibly done now to get Madison so riled up. It hadn't always been this way between her and Madison.

Madison had been so sweet before. In the sixth grade, Mac could remember dying her hair completely purple in a storm of pre-teen rebellion. Predictably, the other kids found it strange, and everyone started bullying her and teasing her except for Meg, Madison, and Veronica. However, Meg was too gentle to actually stop anyone. And Veronica shouldn't count because she was out sick with the flu. Madison was her savior that day. Madison told the other kids to shut up and had gone so far as to compliment her hair, saying that it was her favorite color. She then invited Mac over to hang out. Mac had been so happy; she had been on the verge of tears before Madison defended her.

They were friends for most of that year. Then, something happened. Mac didn't know what and never found out. Madison had suddenly started bullying her, and she got more kids to do it, too. And there was no new savior for Mac.

It saddened Mac to think about being friends with Madison so long ago. She shook her head to free her from her thoughts and refocused on the test before her.

.

Keith Mars sat in his office poring over some new case files from that morning. Being a sheriff for a small town seemed like an easy job, but Neptune's shiny coat held cracks and shadows that only a few were privy to. It was his job as sheriff to keep the rest of the populace from knowing about the seedy underbelly of Neptune. And it was his job as a father to keep his daughter from finding out about it, too. If it were his choice, Veronica would never leave the house without him, if at all. His baby girl should live life unscathed and innocent.

He was already so proud of her for getting straight A's on her most recent report card and couldn't firmly say no when she attempted to con him into having ice cream sundaes for dinner that night to celebrate.

Her unexpected appearance at the station had greatly lifted his spirits, too. He had been in a dark mood since morning. He had caught Lianne talking to Jake on the phone again. Keith was furious that Lianne could be so careless about it. Veronica could have walked in on her at any moment and easily identify it as a conversation between a woman and her lover; a lover who was not her husband. She wasn't stupid. She knew about these types of sordid affairs, though he wished she didn't. She just hung around the station far too often. And as much as Keith didn't want her exposed to these things, he didn't really want her to be anywhere else either.

Keith honestly didn't care about Lianne's affair. He stopped caring years ago when Veronica was a baby, and he gave up hoping that his wife would someday love only him.

Of course, he was torn up about the affair at first, and Lianne had promised him it was over and said she was sorry. Variations of similar events somewhat hardened Keith.

After finding out Lianne was pregnant, Keith waited to secretly get a paternity test done as soon as possible. Keith cried out joyfully when he found out that Veronica really was his. And he was determined to take care of her as best he could. He wanted a perfect family for his perfect baby daughter. A month after Veronica was born, Keith confronted Lianne once more about the affair and told her to stop for Veronica's sake. He was relieved when she looked sincere in her apologies and promises to stop, but he had been fooled before.

Unfortunately, his suspicions proved true once more. Keith came home one day in between his shifts at the station. He wanted to pop in and play with Veronica before having to deal with the ever harsh realities of fighting crime.

Upon entering his house, Keith heard Veronica crying and discovered Lianne was nowhere to be found. Outraged, he picked up Veronica and grabbed her essentials. He then placed her in the care of Inga, the station's receptionist, and left in search of Lianne. He didn't have to look too hard. He knew where she would be and found her there, Room 207 at the Camelot Motel. He wasn't surprised to find Jake Kane there.

He simply warned Lianne never to leave Veronica alone again and said that he wouldn't divorce her. She could keep her affair for all he cared. He just needed her to be there for Veronica and consider her well being like he did.

For Veronica's sake, he would pretend to be a happy family unit. For Veronica's sake, maybe they would have ice cream for dinner tonight, her mother's requests to eat healthy foods be damned. Maybe he'll even get Veronica a puppy for her birthday, too. One that'll make so much of a mess, Lianne would have to spend all her time cleaning instead of her next meeting with Jake and the next hiding spot for her alcohol. Though, he wouldn't hold his breath.

For Veronica's sake, he would track down that killer targeting and strangling those poor young girls. He went back to focusing on the open case files in front of him, mindful of his teenage daughter conversing animatedly with his deputies.

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A/N: Not much Veronica in this chapter, but I wasn't really sure what to say from her perspective that would add to the story. At this point, there's not much depth to her. I'm really very excited about this story. I hope you guys are too. Feedback would be appreciated. I have a general idea about what I want to do with this, but things can be changed. I also may be updating this chapter occasionally, I'm not too sure I'm getting what I everything I want across.


	2. Chapter 2

**King of Mars**

A/N: Thank you everyone for your words of interest and support. To put it mildly, I was pleasantly surprised to see your responses. Thank you again! And like before, I may make updates to this chapter if I catch mistakes or inconsistencies.

Chapter 2

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"My life is ruined." She stood in the large room that she had fought Duncan for. The poor boy never had a chance.

It was bad enough that the stuffy headmaster at her previous school had kicked her out a month ago, but her parents had forced her to leave fabulous Los Angeles to move to dinky old Neptune. What kind of name was that anyway? It's a town, not a planet.

_And_, she was expected to go to public school. Neptune High School. What was it with this town and names? Did everyone run out of ideas?

She sighed exasperatedly. A queen as lovely as she was going to be forced to slum it with commoners. She was expected to _live_ with them. _Learn _with them. _Eat _with them. Over her dead body. Poor people were only good for some fun (read: sex) or as her toys. Things to manipulate and use for her own personal gain.

She had left behind _real_ people who had worshiped her. People that mattered. People who were rich. People who were friends, enemies, and lovers. Though, the categories were not mutually exclusive. She'd have to start finding more play things soon. She was bound to get bored and unpacking was so tedious and beneath her.

The last cardboard box marked 'Lilly' was deposited at the jaded blonde's feet. The man who had delivered it glanced at her for longer than necessary, and she smiled aggressively, baring her teeth. She could do better.

"You can go now." She dismissed him with a wave of her hand. Lilly Kane had standards, too, it seemed.

She looked around her with distaste. They didn't honestly expect her to unpack all of this by herself, did they? Even she didn't know how much clothing or items she possessed. She wondered if she could persuade her father to just let her get rid of everything and let her go on a shopping spree.

No, she thought, it was best not to push her luck with her parents right now. Celeste was on an even more vindictive warpath since Daddy dearest had told her where they were moving.

Finally there was one thing she and her mother had in common. They both hated Neptune.

.

Duncan's room was down the hall from Lilly's. It was the same size as Lilly's but didn't have the same view of the pool or the private entrance to the outside. He had fought Lilly harder for that room than he had fought her for anything else ever before. And he still lost to her.

Duncan didn't care about the view or the pool, but he knew what Lilly would be using the side door for. He cringed imagining the sound of sliding doors in the middle of the night. Would she have her trysts in her room or theirs? Or in the backseats of cars? He really didn't want to know but found it impossible to stop wondering.

He heard Lilly's dismissal of the lecherous mover and glared at the worker as he walked past his room. He'd seen her staring at his sister while he worked. Didn't he realize that Lilly was underage? Only sixteen. Though not very sweet, she didn't need creepy middle aged men ogling her.

He located a leather satchel amongst the many bags and boxes surrounding him and pulled out his laptop. He kept a journal on it. The entries were few and far in between, but he always felt better writing down all his thoughts when something particularly bad happened. This time it was a startlingly realistic dream he had last night. Sitting down on the plush carpet and among the piles of boxes, he typed.

_10 July 2003_

_Last night I dreamt about Lilly in a soccer uniform and knee socks because Mom and Dad said that she was signing up for soccer in the summer with me. She looked almost innocent. Almost. She came off the soccer field covered in mud, dirty. It should've been okay. She was already dirty, so I took her—_

.

Neptune was warm and bright today; it was the kind of weather that musicians wrote songs about.

School was out, so Veronica now played for the Proteans. They were the coed soccer team that the Neptune's community center ran during the summer. No doubt the booster club thought they were being clever by naming them after one of Neptune's moons.

Veronica absolutely loved soccer. Standing on the soccer field, she was in her element. Here her small frame wasn't a handicap but an asset. She could weave in between players, stealing the ball, or dodge them completely. What she lacked in strength, she more than made up for in agility and maneuverability.

Veronica was early to the first soccer practice of the summer season because it was her week to take care of and set up the equipment.

She finally finished up by setting up the cones on the edge of the soccer field. Looking up, she saw that she wasn't the only one early to practice.

The boy was standing off to the side with what appeared to be his mother. They were talking to Coach Roberts.

Veronica had never seen the boy before, so she supposed that it was his first time signing up for soccer, too. She sized up her future teammate. A habit she learned from her father early on. He always said that it never hurt to know the people around you.

She started with his frame. He looked to be fairly well built; a few inches shy of six feet tall. Judging by how he held himself, he was aware of his body and moved with purpose. His broad shoulders would come in handy for covering other players and defending against rough players. She bit her lip in concentration, and moved to his arms. He wore a long sleeved shirt, but Veronica could tell that he had some nice biceps and forearms. If anything, Veronica could appreciate his broad shoulders and strong arms. His hands were large, but she didn't know if he would know how to use them. The Proteans were in desperate need of a goalie after Corny had discovered the wonders of horticulture and lost interest in the sport. He was definitely a candidate. Her eyes lifted to his face, noting that his face still held some of its baby fat and looked soft. She couldn't see his eyes from her position on the sidelines, but they were dark. Perhaps even darker than his hair. Tall, dark, and handsome? Check. She forced her eyes to move away from his face and wish she didn't because they had landed on his ass instead. _Very_ nice. Check. Perhaps she'd be able to confirm whether it was as firm as it looked in his soccer shorts, and…

Veronica realized that her actions no longer qualified as profiling. At this point, she was just checking him out. A rosy blush colored her cheeks, and she hit her forehead with her palm. She should've walked away then, but her coach chose that moment to call her over to meet their new player. Of course.

She made her way over to them. Let it never be said that Veronica Mars doesn't meet things head on.

"Logan. Lynn. This is Veronica Mars. She's the captain for the boys and girls team, ages fifteen to seventeen. She'll be Logan's captain for the summer. Veronica, this is Logan and Lynn Echolls."

Way to go, Veronica, you just checked out Logan Echolls. Probably before any other girls got to, too. Score one for the underdog. Wait, underdog for what? Damn Dick. It was his fault she was so internally flustered and confused. He had been not-so-subtly hinting that she should 'get to know' either Duncan or Logan since she hadn't dated anyone since middle school and 'did middle school romances even count'?

Giving them both a smile that belied her inner turmoil, Veronica politely shook Lynn's hand and greeted her. When she shook Logan's hand, their fingertips seemed to linger. The prolonged contact caused Veronica to automatically focus on Logan's face.

Ah, there it was. His smile was as polite as hers, but his eyes flickered with amusement. Did he notice her observant eyes? Denying would be akin to admitting, so she resigned herself to defeat and made a quick mental note that his eyes were actually a dark brown. Like chocolate. Yum. She subconsciously licked her lips. Oh shit.

Logan's eyes locked onto her lips and wolfishly grinned at her in response.

She would never admit it to anyone even under threat of death, but her mind had chosen to stop working at the sight of his ridiculously attractive smile. This explained why she could barely say, "Hi." The fact that her salutation had been delivered somewhat breathily did not escape either teens' attentions.

"Hey," he said. He rubbed the back of his neck and ducked his head down slightly. Veronica could still see that he was still smiling, but it was now more boyish than predatory.

All of her father's lessons had taught her that the boy in front of her was acting _shy_. Maybe even _nervous_. Because of her? She had to be wrong. This was Logan Echolls. From what she heard, usually from Dick parroting what he heard from Madison, Logan Echolls had a way with words. And he used his way with words to develop his way with women.

And as soon as she had seen it, it was gone again. Back to predatory.

Veronica never could leave a good mystery alone.

.

Lynn looked from her son to the girl in front of her and smiled knowingly. She hadn't seen her son look so adorably his age since he was five.

Lynn considered the girl for a moment. Captain of the soccer team. That meant she was capable and could handle herself. Lynn could also tell she was a fiery little thing from the way she walked over to them, too. It was a determined walk. Confident with a little something extra. Veronica would be able to handle her son.

They would be fun to watch.

"It was nice meeting you, Tom. I have the utmost confidence in your coaching skills. It was a pleasure meeting you, too, Veronica. I'll leave Logan in both of your hands."

Hearing his mother's departing words; Logan kissed her cheek and bade her goodbye.

"Call the town car when you're ready. And be good."

"Room for compromise?"

"Nonnegotiable." She kissed him back on the cheek and walked back to the idling car waiting for her.

.

Coach Roberts had left him with Veronica while he went to look over some plays to get ready for the summer season. Practice wouldn't officially start for another fifteen minutes.

There was an awkward moment of silence between them. He had to say something to break it. Anything.

"So… see anything you like?" Maybe not anything.

Her jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

In for a penny, in for a pound. "Alright, I'll just turn this way for a minute. I sure hope no one takes advantage of me. Though, I do make exceptions for people in power. Like captains, for example."

"Shut up." She laughed and punched his arm lightly.

"Hey, it's alright. I don't mind. Turnabout is fair play, right? And yeah, I'll admit it. I only caught you because I was looking too."

For a moment, he thought he shouldn't have said it because she stopped laughing and tensed. But then he heard, "So… did _you_ see anything you like?" Her laughter started again.

He let out a breath of air he didn't know he was holding when she laughed. He wondered if he should answer in the affirmative and chose to hold his tongue. He wasn't lying when he said he had been looking. More appropriately, he couldn't stop looking. In fact, he was still looking now. She was more than a head shorter than he was. Her short, blonde hair was held in tiny pigtails. Blue eyes sparkling. He made a mental note to personally thank whoever designed her workout clothes. Tight green top and black spandex shorts. No doubt they were standard issue for female athletes, but Logan was still grateful. It was a pity she didn't have knee socks on. But, he could add those in later. He was already preparing for her to be at the top of his rotation for a long time.

Logan looked back to the girl in front of him. She had stopped laughing a while ago and was looking at him expectantly.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, "You don't talk to people much, do you?"

No… most people who talked to him were usually using him to get to Aaron, but she didn't need to know that. "Why do you say that?"

"You haven't answered any of my questions. Like, 'How do you like Neptune?' Or 'Have you played soccer before?' Or 'Do your stalkers ever follow you into restrooms?'" She pointed behind him.

"What?" He turned around. He spotted a few people with cameras standing in the parking lot. They must have come to take pictures and write a story about how Aaron and his family were adjusting to life in Neptune. He flippantly says, "I think they prefer to be called devoted observers. And how do you know they're not here for you?"

She cocked her head and put a hand on her hip, "Unless they think I'm Paris Hilton, God forbid; they're all yours, tiger."

He roared at her, pretending to attack her, and she lightly punched his arm to stop him. "Be serious."

"Yeah, I guess they're mine. But they're more like herpes. I got them because of someone else, and now I can't get rid of them. How long did it take for you to figure out my parents were famous?" He almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"You're joking, right?"

He tried to let the disappointment not show on his face. Another fangirl, probably one of his father's. He wished she was different from the others. He mentally went through their conversation to see if her words or laughter seemed fake or scripted.

"You're all everyone's been talking about for the past month. Well, you and the Kanes. I recognized your name."

"I figured."

"My friends have been practically talking my ear off, Carmen especially."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. You'll meet Carmen soon. She's on the team with us. She's cool, a little star struck though. Your mom's her favorite soap star. She almost had a _conniption_ when I told her I'd never heard of your parents—"

Logan's heart skipped a beat, and he looked at her warily. She couldn't be that good of an actor, could she? She looked honest to a fault and painfully innocent. Like he would corrupt her by simply touching her. He almost felt guilty about his previous thoughts, but he was a teenage boy, and she'd never know…

He concluded that she probably didn't even know _how_ to trick people and relaxed.

"—My dad's more into movies like _Pulp Fiction_ or_ The Outsiders_ and he makes me watch them with him, so I usually don't get to watch a lot of new movies. She forced me to watch a marathon of _Shoot or Be Shot_, _Sex, Lies & Obsession_, and _Days of Our Lives_." She held up one finger for each movie or show as she listed them and smiled up at him. Nope, she definitely wasn't playing him.

"She made you watch those? Are you sure she's your friend?" he asked.

"Yes. And, I enjoyed it. Really. I like your mom's acting. Very dramatic. Very apropos. And your dad's really… something." She laughed nervously and trailed off at the end.

"You're a terrible liar." He took perverse joy in the fact that his new friend couldn't stand his father's acting either.

"Sorry…" she tilted her head up at him.

"Don't worry about it. The amount of money he gets paid for his 'acting' should be a crime," he chuckled and softly hit her on her chin.

She rubbed her chin contemplatively, "Is this mutiny, soldier?"

"What if it is? I don't take direction well from anyone, let alone someone who wouldn't pass the size requirements for a roller coaster ride."

"Excuse you. It was just that one time!"

"You're kidding."

"Nope. Knott's Berry Farm, Bigfoot rapids. I got to the front of the line and they said I was too small and needed an adult to accompany me. They didn't even believe I was fifteen."

"And how old are you now?"

"… fifteen."

He tried to stifle his laughter, "That's a shame."

"Yuk it up. Snoopy's lucky that I _love_ the Pony Express ride."

"Ponies? I pegged you for a lover of animals of the feline variety."

"Did you just call me a cat lady?"

"If the fur fits." He gestured to her fur covered shorts.

Her cheeks colored slightly, but she wasn't really embarrassed. "That's dog fur actually. My dad got me a puppy a few weeks ago as an early birthday present. He's got a shedding problem. You should see what he did to my room."

"See your room? Miss Mars, are you propositioning me?"

"Did I mention he's a pit bull named Backup? _And_ my dad got him for my protection?"

"Protection?"

"From boys like you, I'm guessing."

"Your dad doesn't like you hanging around upstanding citizens?"

"He's not fond of _any_ boys around hanging around me. Anyway, I save the taser for the upstanding ones. Backup is more for the boys with ulterior motives."

"Does that mean he won't attack me if I'm up front about my motives?"

"Depends. What exactly are your motives?"

Veronica liked to think that he was going to ask her on a date or _something_, and she wasn't really opposed to that idea. The boy had a certain pull. Unfortunately, Coach Roberts had called them both over. Practice was starting, and they didn't even notice that other people had arrived and were waiting on the field.

She sighed and said, "We should go."

He didn't protest and followed her.

She could see two unfamiliar people next to Coach. A boy and a girl. They couldn't be…

"Veronica. These two are Lilly and Duncan Kane. Veronica is your captain."

Veronica greeted the two teenagers. All of the new, rich kids on her soccer team. What luck. Once again, she profiled the newcomers. Duncan looked somewhat uncomfortable standing next to his sister but seemed capable. He definitely didn't look like an aggressive player, but she could be wrong. Either way, she was sure to find something for him. His sister, on the other hand, didn't look like she even knew the rules. Her long hair wasn't tied up; Veronica could just imagine the mess of tangles that would result later. She seemed more interested in pretending to accidentally give the other boys a show by bending over in her booty shorts to tie her shoes.

Veronica casually glanced over at Logan to see if he was enjoying the show. She would deny and deny again if someone ever asked if she was checking because she was jealous. She ignored the pleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach when she confirmed that he was just listening to the coach. When he caught her staring, the corners of his mouth lifted up.

He whispered, "Pay attention, captain."

She pulled a face at him and continued ignoring the pleasant feeling moving through her.

"We're going to take it easy today. Two laps around the field, then a fifteen minute stretch. You kids can get to know your new teammates during the practice match we're having today. I'm going to split you into two teams. Veronica will be one captain. And…" Coach Roberts looked at his clipboard before yelling, "Sean! You're going to be the other captain."

Sean Friedrich stepped up next to Coach, and Coach Roberts clapped him on the back.

"Get ready to go down," he sneered at Veronica.

Veronica never liked Sean. He was one of the typical 09ers who looked down on everybody else because they were in a lower tax bracket. He was one of the 09ers who looked down on _her_._ S_he turned to him and said, "Sorry, Friedrich. Not interested. Try the street corners later. I hear repeat customers get special treatment, so they should treat you _real_ nice there."

.

Logan's eyes widened imperceptibly. She was a lot feistier that he had given her credit for. Perhaps she wasn't as innocent as she looked.

Logan could like Neptune. He could like it a lot.

The other teens around him seemed to be used to it and snickered. Even Coach Roberts couldn't completely hide his laughter.

The coach straightened up and cleared his throat to get their attention. He spoke again to assign the rest of the team members.

Before leaving to huddle up with Sean's team, Logan turned to Veronica and said, "Seems like we're enemies today."

"Looks like."

"I'm going to go ahead and apologize first."

"For what?"

"For making a bad first impression."

"What? I knew you were just teasing before."

"Good. But not what I meant."

"Then what?"

"I don't think you'll take it too well when my team completely crushes yours, you know?"

She shot him a look that excited him. "It's on, Echolls. I was going to take it easy on you since you guys are new. But it's so on."

"Care to make things more interesting?" He grinned at her mischievously.

"Are you looking to get tasered?"

"Are you saying I'm an upstanding citizen now?"

She rolled her eyes, "What do you want?"

You, he thought. "Loser buys the other lunch after practice?"

He could see her considering it and was afraid she would say no. "How about just ice cream?"

He was ridiculously relieved she hadn't flat out rejected him. "Why just ice cream? Scared you'll lose?" he teased.

"Ha. Keep dreaming. I just like ice cream better."

"Ice cream with a girl who's not afraid to actually eat it? Deal."

"Deal. I'll be looking to collect later." She gave him a wave before jogging over to the rest of her teammates who easily welcomed her into their circle. She hugged the girl to the left of her. They looked really close. She was probably the Carmen that Veronica mentioned earlier.

He made his way over to his own team. He hated to see her go, but he didn't mind watching her leave.

Over on his team, he only knew Lilly. Duncan was, unfortunately, on Veronica's team, and he hadn't had a chance to talk to him yet. However, they did share a look when Duncan managed to catch his eye. It was a silent plea to Logan to ask him to watch over Lilly.

Logan spared Lilly a glance and quietly assessed her. As usual, Lilly was dressed inappropriately. He figured they didn't meet up with the coach earlier because Lilly spent too much time primping and made them late. She had the boys around her eating out of the palm of her hand. She was pretending to be innocent and naive, but he knew better. He'd seen her do it many times before. Lilly Kane was no wide-eyed ingénue. He wondered how long she could keep it up before she got bored of the entire act.

He also wondered why she was even there. Lilly had never shown any interest in playing sports before, including soccer. He had a feeling that this was part of Celeste or Jake's punishment… _plan_ to reform Lilly. Logan wished them the best of luck.

.

Lilly Kane didn't do sports. However, she did do boys. Especially the cute ones. Luckily for her, this was coed soccer. She figured she could start her collections of boys and toys now with Sean Friedrich and John Enbom keeping her company for the time being. She didn't bother learning the names of the other boys, but she could string them along for fun, too. The more the merrier.

She scoffed at Logan who was standing away from her and talking to the other players. She scoffed at his pointed disinterest in her, too. As if she would even consider him worthy of her. He probably thought he was being loyal to the Donut by resisting her charms. Not like it mattered, she had plenty of others who were cuter or richer. He could keep his loyalty. If she really wanted him, she could get him. But she didn't, so she wouldn't waste her charm on him to prove a point now.

Looking back at her subjects, she knew spending those few extra minutes in the bathroom would come in handy. The other girls obviously didn't get the memo or didn't care that they looked completely uncute. Like that Veronica girl. Who did she think she was? Pigtails were for kindergarteners, and Lilly had refused to wear them even then.

Lilly looked over at Veronica who was surrounded by her teammates and did her own assessment. Her clothes weren't new or pressed; they weren't even designer labels. Her shoes were stained with mud splatters. Poor and pathetic. And absolutely no figure. Not like Lilly who filled out when she was thirteen. She probably hadn't even gone past first base. Though, Lilly couldn't even fathom anyone who would want to with her.

Yet, people still flocked to her as if she were worthy of any sort of attention. She could tell that Veronica was highly popular and that people actually liked her. She would have to change that. There was room for only one center of attention, and it wasn't going to be some poor, inexperienced _tomboy_.

.

Duncan couldn't believe that his father had let Lilly out of the house like that. They were heading to soccer practice, not… well, Lilly's outfit shouldn't really be appropriate for going outside anywhere. Or staying in.

It made Duncan extremely uncomfortable because it brought on thoughts of the dream he had a few days ago. And it didn't help that Lilly had paired her outfit with knee socks. He was very aware of the effect she was going for when she had put them on. It was too similar to his dream.

Earlier, Duncan had silently asked Logan to keep an eye on Lilly. He was a good friend. Logan was loyal to him for whatever reason and was really useful. Most importantly, he never looked at Lilly inappropriately. He kept a lot of guys away from Lilly, too. Unfortunately, Logan didn't scare everyone away. And no one here knew what Logan was capable of so they couldn't be intimidated yet. Duncan debated whether or not to ask Logan to reestablish that Lilly was off limits. It wouldn't keep everyone away, but it would keep most away like before. Duncan sighed and tried to pay attention to Veronica introducing the team members, most likely for his benefit. Everyone else looked like they knew each other and were friends.

Duncan wished he had a sister like Veronica. She was confident yet considerate. She didn't lord over everyone like Lilly even though Duncan was sure she could. And Duncan was sure that Veronica wouldn't do the things that Lilly does.

But, Veronica wasn't his sister. Lilly was. And he couldn't change that.

Though, he wished that he could.

.

"Good hustle, kids. That's it for today. Mars, good form out there. Good job leading your teammates. Friedrich, walk it off. You'll be fine."

Sean limped past Veronica and glared at her.

She smirked, "Oh, suck it up. You deserved it."

"You tripped me."

"No. You tried tripping me and ended up tripping yourself. The ref saw it."

"The ref likes you better."

"A lot of people like me better than you. But that's hardly their fault. I'm me, and well, you're—"

"Richer than you'll ever be even if you and your mother spent a lifetime turning tricks on the boardwalk."

"Oh, Sean. Strike one. You get three."

"What? Am I supposed to be scared of you because your father's the sheriff? _My _father can ruin yours."

"Strike two."

"What are you even going to do? You can't touch me."

"Piss me off and find out." She bared her teeth menacingly. Her mother was a sore spot for her. Just earlier today, she had gone to her parents' room to ask her mother to give her a lift to soccer practice. Instead, she had seen her mother passed out in her bedroom. Her dad had ushered her away from the door, but the damage was done. It wasn't like it was the first time she'd seen her mother like that either. Veronica had no idea when it had gotten that bad, but she found hidden bottles around the house, too.

He was about to walk away, but something must have changed his mind because he said, "I'll tell you what. I'll forgive you for tripping me if you get on your knees and beg. You should be used to it, right?"

He just couldn't resist, could he? Veronica's eyes narrowed. She was ready to pounce when Logan interfered. He scooped her up by her waist, hoisted her over his shoulders, and carried her out to the parking lot. "Come on, bobcat. Let's go."

"What are you doing?" she demanded. "I refuse to let him get away with that." She was slightly embarrassed that he could carry her off so easily, but mostly she was annoyed.

He lifted her from his shoulders and carefully set her down.

"He's not going to get away with anything, but you fighting him is only going to get you in trouble."

"So?"

"So your father's apparently the sheriff. You really want him to find out that you've been fighting?"

She pouted and shook her head. She knew he was right. Her dad had enough to worry about. "He needed to learn," she said petulantly.

"And he will."

She looked up at him. "How?"

"Subterfuge."

"I'm listening."

"Let's go with the tried and true method of public humiliation. I'm thinking… naked pictures of him across town?"

She looked at him in disgust. "Gross. And I don't know, Logan. What if his parents see them?"

"Then maybe next time he'll think twice about running his mouth like that."

She saw the agitation simmering beneath his skin. "You're really worked up over this aren't you? You should've just let me beat him up."

"What, and let you have all the fun? Trust me, I would've gotten in the first punch if anything. I just didn't want you getting in trouble."

"And they say chivalry is dead. How would we even get naked pictures of him?"

"I thought you'd see it my way. We get him drunk. Or I get him drunk, anyway."

"Of course. Why didn't _I_ think of that?" She shakes her head. "Oh right. We're underage. It's illegal for us to drink."

"Think of it this way. He's a teenager. He's going to end up getting drunk anyway. I'm just helping things along."

"You'd be taking advantage of him."

"You call it taking advantage. I call it being proactive."

"That's quite a silver tongue you have there, Echolls."

"It matches the silver spoon."

She punched him playfully.

"You keep punching me, and you're going to have to start playing nurse for all my bruises."

"Poor, wittle wogan. Want me to kiss it better?"

"I'd say yes, but you'd just punch me again." He pretended to think about it for a moment. "Actually, forget what I said before. Yes. Definitely, yes. Do you mind punching me in the chest again, too?"

She swatted at him to keep him from lifting up his shirt. "You should stop while you're ahead." She placed a hand on his arm. "Thanks for your help back there. Really. You were right, and I wasn't thinking."

"Stick with me, and you'll never have to think again."

She said, innocently, "Because stupidity's contagious?"

"Are you this insulting to all your friends?"

"You just met me, and you think you're my friend? How very presumptuous of you. I think you need an ego check, mister."

"There you go thinking again."

"Someone in this friendship has to."

"So we're friends now?"

Veronica let out an exaggerated sigh. "I'm probably going to regret this, but I guess I'll take pity on the new kid. Just this once. I'm a sucker for brunets with pouty lips."

"Duly noted. But I see you've been checking me out again."

"It's hard not to look at you when you kept chasing me on the field."

"You had the ball most of the time!"

"You were a goalie!"

"All the more reason. But that explains all the yelling. I figured you wholesome townsfolk just liked yelling."

"Wholesome townsfolk? You just wait till you meet everyone."

"Do my ears deceive me? Did Veronica Mars just speak ill of someone?"

"It's actually multiple people, but yeah. I tend to do that."

"You know you completely had me fooled. I thought you were all about the pretty ponies and unicorns."

"And now?"

"Well you're probably still all about ponies and unicorns. But, now I see you're just as depraved as the rest of us."

"Hardly. I just call things like I see them and can't stand not putting some people in their place when they're just asking for it. Scout's honor."

"That's… not the right sign for scout's honor."

"I know."

"You're incredible."

"Yeah, that's the general consensus."

"Well, I do agree with Coach. You had really good form out there. _Very_ admirable, if I may say."

"Whatever, perv. That reminds me. Time to pay up, I won."

"Alright. Where's a good place to get ice cream around here? I can get my driver to take us there."

Veronica looked past Logan and furrows her eyebrows. She distractedly said, "Actually, raincheck? My mom just got here."

She missed Logan's frown.

Veronica certainly didn't expect her to come and pick her up. Her mother shouldn't be driving while hung over; she should have been at home sleeping it off. She hadn't even expected her dad to come since he had work. That was why she had readily agreed to collecting her ice cream debt with Logan after practice.

From where she was, she could see her mother talking with another man. He was middle aged and looked distinguished. She could see Duncan and Lilly next to him, too. He was probably their father, Jake Kane.

Her finally mother noticed her and called her over.

"Bye, Logan. It was _nice_ meeting you."

"Same here, bobcat. See you tomorrow."

"So we're sticking with bobcat?"

"You can't tell me that you weren't ready to spring on him. Like a cat. See, cat lady at heart."

Smiling, she rolled her eyes at him. "Cat _person_. And still no. Find another nickname."

"Make me."

"I could pounce on you."

"Please tell me that's a promise?" He crossed his fingers.

She was about to punch him again but remembered what they said before. "I'm onto you, and I'll remember to collect later."

"Foiled again. Be safe, bobcat!"

She stuck her tongue out at him in response.

.

He grinned at her. He may have called her a bobcat, but he would be the predator in their dynamic.

Calling his driver, he waited and chatted up some of his male teammates, including Sean. Normally after soccer practices in LA, he and Duncan would wait together, but Jake had arrived early today. He would invite Duncan and the other boys over later so that he could help Veronica.

.

"Hey Mom," she hugged her and whispered, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to pick you up, honey. Your dad's at work."

"I know that, but are you feeling okay?"

Her mom pursed her lips, "I'm feeling great. Why do you ask?"

If her mother could pretend and act normal, so could she. "No reason, I just saw you sleeping in today and thought you were tired. I don't want you to tire yourself out for me."

"Nonsense," she turned to Jake. "Kids these days are growing up so fast. So mature. Jake, this is the daughter I was telling you about. Veronica, meet Jake Kane. You, Duncan, and Lilly are all playing soccer together this summer. Isn't that wonderful?"

She could practically feel the waves of pep rolling off her mother. However, she was too distracted with the way Jake was looking at her to put too much thought into it. It unnerved her slightly. "Yeah, Mom. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Kane." He frowned, and she wondered what he was thinking. "Let's go home now?"

"In a little, honey. I'm talking with Jake here. I'm telling him and his kids about what's new in town and school. You and Duncan are probably going to be taking the same advanced placement and honors classes."

"But Mom, you should really rest now."

"Honey, what's gotten into you? I feel fine."

"It's alright, Lianne. I should get these two home, too. Duncan has his Chinese lessons, and Lilly needs to be with her mother. It was a pleasure to meet you and your daughter. I'm sure we'll see more of each other soon."

Jake hugged Lianne goodbye. He hugged Veronica, too, and Veronica thought he felt her stiffen. Feeling irrationally impolite and overly sensitive, she returned his hug out of guilt but felt uncomfortable doing so. He smiled brightly at her as if he didn't notice anything.

Veronica hoped she can start driving herself around when she turned sixteen so that her mother would never have to drive her hungover. Or worse.

"He seemed really friendly," Veronica said while her mother drove them home. A lot more approachable than his kids, Veronica thought. Though, the awkward feeling she got from being around him for those few moments still lingered.

"Isn't he? We used to go to school together, you know. We used to be friends."

"Really? Jake Kane was from Neptune? Do you know why he left?"

"You know how it is, baby. Things happen. People get married… and they just leave. But he's back now. And that's all that matters."

Veronica thought her mother's response was a little weird. But her mother had been acting weird for months now.

Later that night at dinner, she told her dad about the new kids on her soccer team.

"She was a complete liability, dad. I kept getting hit in the face with hair, too. Her brother's okay though. He'll probably be a fullback."

"I'm sure you can whip her into shape in no time, honey."

"I'm going to need more than a summer. She's a real piece of work." Veronica neglected to mention Lilly's provocative displays disguised as running on the soccer field. "Their father probably has his hands full. Mom said he was raised in Neptune, and she went to school with him. She was talking to him before and said they were friends. Does that mean you know Jake Kane from before, too?"

"No, sweetie. I only moved to Neptune a few years before you were born. That was way after your mom graduated from high school. If you're done with dinner, why don't you go to your room, champ? You must have had a long day of being a tiny tyrant. Your mother and I can take care of the dishes."

Veronica kissed her father on the cheek. "What can I say? They voted me captain, and the rules are no take backsies. Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Mom."

.

"Don't say it, Keith. Just don't."

Keith was eerily calm, "Say what, dear?"

"You know what. I didn't plan it. I was just going to pick up Veronica."

"When I left you, you were still passed out in our room. You just happened to feel like dragging yourself out of bed to pick up our daughter? You didn't mind it before when she walked home."

"I was trying to be a good mother!"

"That's pretty convenient, isn't it? And Jake Kane has a regular driver, doesn't he?"

"Believe me or not. But what I'm saying is true. I care about Veronica."

"_I_ care about Veronica."

The two adults stared at each other. "I need a drink."

"You've had enough, and you need to stop. Veronica caught you passed out this morning. You can't keep doing this to her."

"Veronica this, Veronica that. Veronica is my daughter. I know what's good for her. She's strong."

"Veronica is my daughter, too. And she's strong because you forced her to grow up before she's supposed to."

In her anger, Lianne almost let it slip that Keith wasn't her father. And that her real father had finally come back to her, so he should just leave them alone. But she didn't. She couldn't. Not yet. So she bit her tongue and recited an apology. She didn't think he believed that she was really sorry anymore, but she did it anyway. It was just the game they kept playing.

.

All throughout dinner, Jake sang Veronica's praises and compared her to Lilly. He even suggested that she and Duncan befriend Veronica. That Veronica would be a good influence on Lilly.

Veronica _this_, Veronica _that_. Veronica was not better than her. She was indignant at the attention Veronica received from her father. He only saw her for less than five minutes, how could he act like he knew everything? Veronica could be a slut for all he knew.

Lilly was his daughter, and he never waxed poetic about her. He hadn't hugged _her_ in forever, too.

That bitch was getting on her nerves. She initially thought Veronica was just an eyesore that she needed to take care of, but she was getting to be a real pain.

Yeah, she was going to be Veronica's _friend_.

Daddy dearest would just have to see who's a bigger influence on whom later though.

Lilly would have her father back, and she would never have to hear him comparing her with Veronica again.

.

Logan and a group of guys sat around his pool house drinking beer. The guys from practice had taken the liberty of inviting a few other guys to come along, too.

Sean was passed out in the bedroom. He would take care of the dirty work later.

"Hey, dude. I'm Dick. You're Logan, right?"

"I'm shocked that you know. I left my 'Hello, my name is…' nametag at home today."

"Bring it, don't bring it. Everyone's going to know who you are even if you weren't famous. You're new."

"Am I? I thought for sure I ditched my plastic wrapping and case years ago."

The guy talking to him laughed. "That sounds like something Ronnie would say. You two would probably get along."

"Ronnie? Sorry, dude. I don't swing that way."

Dick patted Logan on the back. "No, man. Ronnie's a chick. Real cute but don't let that fool you. She's like a doll with retractable claws sometimes."

"Really?" Logan was amused. He figured Dick was probably just rambling because of the alcohol.

"Yeah. She gets really protective or really defensive sometimes. But at least she has a reason to be a bitch. Not like Madison."

"Madison?"

"Yep, total bitch. My girlfriend. I think we're off again because of you and your buddy there." He pointed to Duncan who was nursing a beer and talking to a few other guys. Logan was immediately reminded of the time he saw the antelope habitat with his parents when they brought him to the zoo for his tenth birthday. There was this one big antelope; the guide called it the giant eland. It had a lot of smaller antelopes hovering around it. None of the animals were doing much, but the guide said the giant eland would sometimes provide for some of the female antelopes and calves. The other boys must have been hoping for the same from Duncan. He had to hand it to them. They certainly didn't waste time latching onto one of the richest guys in town.

"Don't think that's possible, Dick. I've never met a Madison."

"Probably not. But that doesn't matter. She's gunning for you, man. Or your friend. Or both. Who knows? Her friends are like that, too. Just watch your back."

"Thanks for the warning." He was warming up to Dick now. Drunk or not, Dick seemed like he was genuinely trying to help Logan. And Logan appreciated that even if he didn't need the advice. It didn't seem like Dick cared about his parents either. He hadn't really brought them up at all for the most part. Usually, people asked him for pictures or autographs before he barely got out a hello.

"No problem, dude. You should hang out with me and Ronnie, though. It'll be fun. We can all surf at Crescent Beach."

Not a guy, my ass, Logan thought. Logan couldn't think of any cute girls who would choose to mess up their hair to take up surfing. "Sure. Set it up. Need another beer?"

"Bring on the cervezas."

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To the **guest** reviewer who was wondering why Jake didn't get a paternity test: I always figured that Jake never really thought of Keith and Lianne's marriage as something real, so he would never think that any of Lianne's children could be Keith's. To **alisosia**: … it is certainly possible that Celeste had a hand in things. But it's Sheriff Mars after all, he's got friends high (and low) places. We'll find out eventually ^^. As to whether or not Lianne lied, I'm going to have to straight out say that she didn't lie. She just assumed because she, like Jake, don't think very much of her marriage with Keith. I wanted to get across the idea that Jake and Lianne are very self-involved people who are unwilling to consider the people around them because they're too wrapped up in themselves and couldn't let go of their first loves.

**Some **_**possibly**_ **important facts**: Veronica is currently fifteen and her birthday's August. She will be a sophomore in the following school year. I know that with the American school system, she should actually be in Lilly's grade, but… let's just not. Humor me. Lilly is sixteen and her birthday is in early December. She will be a junior. Duncan is born in September, and his situation is like Veronica. He's fifteen and going into his sophomore year. Logan is the baby ^^. He's fifteen, but he's born in March. He's going to be a sophomore too. Madison is born January and is fifteen. Mac is born January and is fifteen.

Also, you may have already noticed, I made Duncan a bit self absorbed. So, he and Logan don't have a complete bromance going on. A little sad since we see that Logan thinks highly of Duncan. Oh well. That's going to change eventually anyway. Wink. Maybe?

This is the Veronica I'm trying to get across right now: Because she's getting older and seeing how other people can be (especially since she knows about her mother's problems and hangs around the station a lot), she's not a bambi type. However, she's not hardened either (she's a marshmallow, really). Which is why she's hesitant at the beginning to really get back at Sean and thinks about his parents. She's your average teenager, perhaps more sarcastic and smarter than most. But still a teenager. Think of her as a Meg type but with an attitude. She's generally nice to everyone unless provoked. She _can_ hate. She's curious. She still believes in justice. And I think she's on her way to being the Veronica we see in the pilot episode, but she'll be more vulnerable. We'll see… There's a lot that has to happen first. She's also flirty with Logan because I can't resist. I defend myself by saying, that's total teenage behavior! ^^

(Fun fact: This is only half of what I was planning for this chapter, but I thought you guys would like the update sooner rather than later and I'm tired of working on it -.-)

Possible spoilers for next chapter: Madison and Lilly throw down their gauntlets (I haven't worked out the details yet, so this may be pushed back or not happen at all). And Lilly puts her plan into motion.

Let me know if things seem weird or inconsistent. Or if things don't seem to flow right.

Advice/feedback is much obliged.


	3. Chapter 3

**King of Mars**

A/N: I'm so happy you guys enjoyed their dialogue, especially since I wasn't too sure about everything. Hope I didn't screw up in this chapter! Those VM script writers are ridiculously witty... As always, thank you! And minor updates are made constantly because I fail at editing and sometimes I'm just lazy.

Chapter 3

.

Veronica was early to practice again to set up the equipment. She couldn't wait until next week when it would be someone else's responsibility. Those soccer nets were killer to put up for someone of her height. She sighed, just one more day.

Sensing she was being watched, she looked around to see another person who was early to practice. Logan was casually sitting on the bleachers with his arms behind him to keep him propped up as he leaned back. Placing the last cone at the corner of the soccer field, Veronica made her way across the field and up a few steps to where Logan was sitting. She plopped herself down.

"Picture me. Bright eyed and impressionable. I wake up early and head into town to buy some sun block before practice. And, I see these flyers everywhere. I pick one up. And wouldn't you know it? It's a picture of Sean Friedrich in all his _non_-glory. Give a girl some warning next time, would you?"

"And have you miss the fruits of my labor?"

"I would've appreciated it just as much hearing about it." She shuddered. "You work fast though. We came up with that plan only a few days ago."

"You know, I don't think I've ever had any complaints about being too fast before."

"Maybe," she lowered her voice, "you left _almost_ as fast as you came and just couldn't hear any."

For a moment, there was silence as they were locked in a gaze. Then suddenly, they broke out in laughter.

Logan chuckled, "I just can't seem to impress you, can I?"

"Can't picture it happening. But reach for the stars, kid. And you'll go far."

Out on the field, players gathered to talk before practice started. Logan and Veronica headed down to talk with them. Rather, Veronica headed down to talk to them and told Logan to stop being shy.

"I'm not shy," Logan whispered to her, pouting.

"You're right. You're just antisocial."

"Is it really being antisocial if I like to be selective with my friends?"

"Yes. Don't you want more friends?"

"I have enough friends."

"Who do you have other than me? And imaginary friends don't count."

"You know, they warned me about you."

"Did they warn you about having imaginary friends, too?"

"No. But they're a little biased."

"You don't say."

"I do. And if you haven't noticed. The illustrious Duncan Kane is my friend."

"Skip. _New_ friends."

"Well if you must know. I'm hanging out with someone new this Saturday."

"Ooh. Is it like a date? Is he cute?"

"Compared to you? It's a tossup. But we're going to Crescent Beach if you want to come."

"The beach? So, it _is_ a date. I'll leave you two alone. I hope he's not the jealous type."

"Why? Are you planning to steal me away?"

"And be part of some twisted love triangle? No thank you. I can't interrupt your play date anyway. My friend has this whole secret thing planned with me this Saturday."

"Sounds like quite the affair. But let me know if things fall through so you can hang out with us instead."

"Sure, but I don't think that's going to happen. He was _very _good at using the guilt card, so he better not bail."

"Guilt? What skeletons have you been hiding in that closet of yours, Veronica?"

"Sorry to disappoint, but my closet is empty." She was lying. "I just haven't seen him in a couple of weeks because of soccer."

"Didn't soccer just start this week?"

"Oh. I forgot you were just a lowly pawn. I had a lot of duties to do, as Captain, before the season started. Like going over plays and the schedule with Coach."

"What about when season started then?"

"You can thank yourself for that one."

"What did I do?"

"You insisted on looking like a lonely puppy, so I _had_ to be your friend and spend time with you instead."

"Can't say I blame you. I'd choose me too."

She refused to give him more opportunities to inflate his ego further and said, "Quiet. I need to find you some lovely, new owners, so you can spend time with them instead. Now, either stand next to me and look cute and friendly while I talk to _my _friends or be a big boy and actually talk to them with me."

"_Or_, third option. You can get to know my best friend, and we can all hang out and be a big, happy family."

"Have you been watching _The Brady Bunch_?"

"That Alice is a total babe."

"You're disgusting."

"No disagreement here. And look who it is. Hey, Duncan."

Veronica hadn't realized that the entire time they spent walking onto the field to the other players, Logan had steered her towards Duncan.

"Hey, man. What's up, Veronica?"

Veronica was about to say hello back, but she was interrupted by the girl next to Duncan.

.

"Little brother. Why are you wasting your time talking to her?"

Lilly found it incredibly hard to remember her plan and couldn't resist sniping at the girl who was the reason for the outburst with her father this morning. Jake had oh so helpfully suggested that Lilly ask Veronica for help with soccer drills. After coming to just _one_ match, Veronica was a soccer star in his eyes, and Lilly was just a clumsy little girl.

Lilly did not take his advice well.

.

Logan replied, "Tone the bitch levels down, Lilly. Veronica's cool."

"Of course she is. Can't you take a joke? I bet Veronica can. You knew I was just kidding, right _Veronica_?"

The insulting way in which Lilly spoke her name provoked Veronica. "I can probably take a joke better than you can take a punch." She flashed an innocent smile at Lilly.

Madison stepped into the group and pushed Veronica aside, separating her from Logan, Lilly, and Duncan. "_Veronica_, watch where you're going."

She wondered if everyone took the same class to be able to say her name like that. She was about to push Madison back but Pam and Shelly blocked her. "You should just stay out of Madison's way. We wouldn't want you getting hurt."

.

Madison was losing her touch. It had taken her almost a week to find the Kane siblings and Logan Echolls. And from what she had _finally_ heard, they weren't exactly hiding.

She practically stomped onto the field with Pam and Shelly when she realized she was heading to meet the influential newcomers and not to a fight. Her main objective had been to introduce herself to the two boys and scope out her potential competition.

That was the plan anyway.

.

"Lilly Kane, Duncan Kane, and Logan Echolls, right?"

Three sets of eyes turned to her.

Duncan politely greeted her and Logan looked warily behind the three girls who had blocked Veronica.

Lilly eyed the bottle blonde who was so clearly vying for the two males' attention. "And who might you be?" she asked, not very nicely.

To Madison's credit, she didn't flinch under Lilly's critical eyes. "Madison Sinclair, cheer captain and student council aide for Neptune High. Pam Powell." She gestured to Pam who was to the side and slightly behind her. "Shelly Pomroy." Shelly was on her other side and also slightly behind her. "As part of the more social group at Neptune High, we would like to invite you to a party at my house this Saturday night. It's a welcoming party, and you'd be the guests of honor. So you _have_ to come."

Lilly had analyzed the way Madison had situated herself in front of her two friends. She figured it was to keep the boys' line of vision on her. Lilly snickered at her child's play.

Madison's attention which was previously focused solely on Duncan and Logan had shifted to Lilly.

Her right eye twitched. "Did you have something you wanted to say?"

"I usually don't want to say anything to people who aren't worth my time. But I suppose I'm forced to in this situation. Sorry." She wasn't even a bit sorry. "But, not interested."

Madison couldn't believe the gall of this girl. Here Madison was pretending to be kind and offering her an invitation to one of the exclusive 09er parties, and she refused it.

"_Not interested_?"

"Yeah, like zero. Like the zero interest on my platinum card, zero."

"Zero." She repeated. She couldn't believe this.

"Are you 'special'? Zero. No interest whatsoever."

"I don't think you understand. I invited you to one of my parties. Mine. Madison _Sinclair_. Do you realize what going to one of my parties would mean? Guaranteed access to the popular circle."

"That's cute. You think we need your help?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I think you need to watch yourself."

"Your concern is absolutely touching. But I don't need it. I will, however, return the favor and say that blonde is _so_ not your color. Did the chemicals trick you into thinking you actually looked good?"

Slightly enraged, Madison responded, "Why don't you and your _concern_ go fuck yourself."

"I've got someone for that."

Madison smiles cruelly, "Don't be so modest. From what I hear, you've got _people_ for that. You know what? Don't bother coming to my party. The skank quota's already been met."

Lilly's response is dripping with malice. "No worries. It must be _so_ hard to meet it by yourself. It's a wonder those bags under your eyes aren't even bigger. Good thing you spend a lot of time on your back, huh?"

This was old hat for Lilly. The main points of verbal attacks on girls were to insult their appearances and sluttiness. No doubt it was old hat for Madison, too. However, Madison couldn't keep her calm as well as Lilly.

Madison pulled back her arm, ready to slap Lilly, when Veronica stepped in between the two girls and separated them.

.

At the mention of Lilly's activities, Duncan looked like he wanted to step in but didn't. He couldn't. So he stood by, watching. Logan, however, was wholly disinterested in the small confrontation between the two alpha females. Instead, he wanted to collect both Veronica and Duncan and back away from the power play that was happening before him.

His disinterest disappeared when he saw Veronica elbow her way back into the small circle formed between the overprivileged children.

Veronica caught Madison's arm and placed herself between the girls. She widened her stance authoritatively. "Madison. Madison clones. Practice is starting, so unless you're all planning on turning in your pompoms for some cleats, you need to leave right now."

"Whatever, Veronica. You're not the boss of me." Her eyes burned with anger, and she wanted nothing more than to knock the smugness off of Lilly's face.

"Thank God for small favors. I wouldn't have the patience. Leave or I tell the coach you all suddenly feel like signing up. You don't mind borrowing dirty clothes to practice in for the day, do you?"

Madison made a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes before responding, "Fine. As if I want to hang around some dirty field all summer. Some of us can afford to travel elsewhere." Madison, Pam, and Shelly bristled and turned to leave.

Veronica chose to ignore the jab at her family's financial status to preserve the peace.

"Lilly, as punishment, start running laps now. You're done after we're done doing warmup laps later."

"Excuse you? Why am I being punished? I didn't do anything. She's the one who almost hit me."

"I heard everything. You provoked her and she responded. It's both your faults. Run."

"And why should I?"

"I am your captain. Now move."

"You're impossible. I'm telling my father about this later."

"Great. Can I be there when you tell him that you called someone a slut?"

"God, you need to relax." Lilly flipped her long hair before beginning her run. She immediately gained a small but appreciative audience. Some ran with her.

Veronica shook her head. Whatever lingering doubts Veronica had about Lilly not being a typical spoiled 09er disappeared. The confrontation between Madison and Lilly had shown Veronica that Lilly was definitely used to this kind of thing and probably instigated a lot of them. Hoping to save herself from unnecessary drama, she silently wished that Lilly didn't plan on signing up for soccer during the school year.

.

Dick Casablancas. High school student. Surfer. Playboy. And now it seemed, Cupid. But just to one Veronica Mars.

Veronica was one of Dick's oldest friends, and she was an only child. That meant it was up Dick to be her older brother figure, whether she wanted him to be or not. And as an older brother, Dick had a responsibility to choose someone that he approved of for Veronica.

To meet Dick's approval, the candidate had to be good looking and a good drinker. The latter criterion was more for him. How else was he going to get through the inevitable double dates and group hangouts? Dick also made sure that the candidate wasn't an asshole. Only the best for his Ronnie after all.

At first, Dick had only teased Veronica about getting together with either Duncan Kane or Logan Echolls; but, after meeting Logan, he could really see it happening.

Logan met all of Dick's criteria; though, there are plenty others who would, too. In Dick's eyes, the thing that set Logan apart from the rest was that Logan was just as sarcastic as Veronica. If they got together, Dick could amuse himself by watching them drive each other insane.

Which is why he was spending his Saturday playing matchmaker.

He was just outside the Marses'—Marsi's? He really needed to figure that out—Veronica's house ready to pick her up. It was only an hour ago that he'd told her that they were going surfing so she could get ready.

After a few minutes past their meet up time, Dick thought she was onto him until she finally emerged from her garage door entrance, struggling to carry her surfboard.

Dick jumped out to help her secure it into the back of his truck.

"Hey Ronnie. Looking good."

"Oh, stop. Really," she added, serious.

"It's a compliment. Take it. You're rocking the surfer babe look."

"Thanks. I was afraid of looking like beach bum. But now that I know I look like a surfer babe, all my worries are gone. Seriously, I should've gotten a full wetsuit like you. I always get this nightmare where I wipe out and lose my swim bottoms."

"Really? Cause that's been my dream," he said suggestively.

She hopped into his truck. "You like dreams about losing your swim trunks? I'll keep that in mind when my dad picks you up for public indecency."

"Sheriff Mars loves me."

"About as much as a root canal."

"He's not still holding a grudge about his barbecue grill, is he?"

"What do you think? But, I should thank you for taking care of my competition. He was starting to love it more than me."

"It was an accident. I thought cherry bomb explosions were supposed to be small!"

"They are. Until you set them off next to a bunch of fireworks."

"How about a little sympathy? I was a victim. It took weeks for my eyebrows to grow back."

"I know. It's still my favorite picture of you."

"It's amazing you have friends."

"What's amazing is that I didn't strangle you for keeping what you had planned today a secret. You know I hate secrets."

"I told you eventually."

"An hour ago. You told me an hour before we left."

"You only need an hour to get ready."

"I'm a girl."

"The jury's still out on that one. I've seen the way you eat."

"I'm not that bad. And I like food. So what? Sue me."

"I would, but then how would you afford to keep eating like that."

"Sweet talker. Any other surprises you want to spring on me?"

He was silent, and it took him a few minutes to find a parking spot at Crescent Beach.

"Dick…?"

He looked slightly nervous before answering, "Just one. It's not just me and you surfing. We're meeting up with someone else too."

"Okay, so why are you nervous?" She paused to think, and her eyes widened. "It's not Madison is it? I swear to God, Dick, I will hurt you. And you know my dad won't arrest me for it."

"No! No. Jesus, no. I'm not crazy enough to hang out alone with you two at the same time."

"Good. Then who is it?"

Dick avoided her question and checked his phone instead. "He sent me a text telling us to meet him in the water next to the lifeguard tower. Come on."

He threw off his sweater to reveal the black wetsuit he wore underneath, while Veronica pulled off her cotton shorts. They moved to the back of his truck to get both of their surfboards out.

.

"I think that's him."

"How can you tell? He's not even facing us."

"Only one way to find out." Dick started paddling out towards the figure bobbing up and down on a surfboard in the ocean.

"Wait! I'm still trying to get the hang of this."

"You're a natural, Ronnie. Just stop over thinking everything. If anything, I'll find a nice lifeguard to save you."

"Ha. Ha." she said, but he didn't hear her because he was already too far ahead.

Veronica made slow progress in reaching the two. From behind, she saw Dick pull up alongside the figure, and they greeted each other with familiarity. Yep, it was Dick's guy. Veronica had to admit that Dick's friend looked good in a wetsuit. She admired his broad shoulders. Though, she admired broad shoulders in general. She loved it whenever someone like her father hugged or held her. She felt incredibly safe. However, she'd never admit it. She was supposed to be independent, strong, and different from her waiflike classmates who seemed to need a guy for everything. She could take care of herself; she shouldn't want to feel protected. Still… she admired them.

Watching the two boys at ease on their surfboards, she felt slightly annoyed since it took a lot of focus for her to keep her own balance. She wanted to punish them.

Veronica paddled closer to them, making sure not to create too many ripples. She slowly slid off her surfboard and slipped underwater. Maneuvering so that she was in between them, Veronica propelled forward as she broke the surface of the water and shouted, "Boo!"

She pulled her own surfboard to her and laughed gleefully as she watched Dick and his friend lose balance and fall into the water.

Dick was the first to right himself. Catching his breath, he said, "Fuck, Ronnie. Thought you were some ghost girl or something coming back from the dead."

"I told you to wait," she said as defense. "Where did your friend go?"

"Right here." His head bobbed up, but he couldn't find his surfboard through his blurred vision. Logan harshly rubbed his eyes, knowing that they'll be red from the seawater. "You must be Ronnie. Can we do without the whole killing us in the middle of the sea thing next time?"

Veronica's mouth hung open. "Logan?" Great, she had checked out Logan at least twice now.

"Uh, yeah. Hey. Can you guys help me find my board? Kinda blind here."

Dick grabbed Logan's board and helped him lay his upper body across it. "You two know each other?"

Still slightly dazed, Logan responded, "What are you talking about?"

"You and Ronnie."

"I've never met a Ronnie."

"Then how come Ronnie knows you?"

"Lots of people know me."

"Ronnie wouldn't recognize you. She doesn't keep up with those things."

"Then Ronnie's a liar."

Veronica chose to finally speak up, "I am not. Logan, you spaz."

Logan kept his head pressed to his surfboard to will his headache away. On his way down, his head hit the edge of Dick's surfboard. "I keep telling you, _Ronald_. I don't know you, man."

Realizing that Logan really couldn't recognize her for whatever reason, Veronica pulled Logan and his surfboard closer to her and moved her head down to eye level with his. "Actually, it's short for _Veronica_."

Logan's eyes widened with recognition, and he was startled enough to let his hold on his board go. He dropped into the ocean once more.

"Ronnie. I think you're going to kill him. I love it."

"You're trying to set us up," Veronica said accusingly.

Dick stammered, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Before she can interrogate Dick further, Logan's head popped up. His vision wasn't any better, but he tried to focus on the fuzzy figure above him. "Veronica?"

"The one and only. Also known as 'Ronnie' to those who have yet learned to fear me."

"I didn't know you surfed."

She and Dick helped him onto his board into a more balanced sitting position. "I don't. Not really. But I lost a bet."

"What kind of bet was it?"

"Completely rigged. I got swindled."

"You're the one who made up the bet."

Logan was intrigued, "_You_ made the bet with her? And won?"

"It wasn't easy. She drives a hard bargain."

"What'd you two bet?"

"Ronnie kept nagging that I could do better in math if I studied more, and she knew I really wanted to teach her how to surf. So, she said that if I got at least a B in geometry, she'd let me teach her for the entire summer."

"He showed up at my house, pounding on the door and waving his report card around. My dad was only slightly amused."

"B+, baby. Whoo!"

"Hustler!"

"Sore loser. You're a natural anyway. Just pretend I'm not even teaching you, and we're just hanging out at the beach."

"If by natural you mean I'm constantly about two seconds away from wiping out… then yeah. Pro status, baby."

"Whatever. We can let Logan decide later. We ready to surf?"

Veronica mimicked the stereotypical surfer and said, "Let's go, brah."

.

Logan took it easy for the rest of the afternoon and hung back a majority of the time to compensate for the dull throbbing of his headache. That's what he told Dick and Veronica anyway. And that may have been the truth, and it may not have. Because another truth was, Logan also spent a lot of time observing Veronica's form.

For someone who was just barely being taught the finer points of surfing, Veronica really was a natural. She was a quick learner, and she took instruction well from both Dick and Logan. However, she tended to freeze up at some points, and it caused her to fall a few times. Fortunately, Dick or Logan always made sure she was safe. She took the falls in stride, too. She wore her scrapes and bruises like badges of honor.

Watching her attitude towards her marred skin brought uncomfortable feelings about his own markings. Feelings he didn't wish to explore while out with friends. Luckily, he had a distraction. Girls really were the best distraction for all red blooded teenage boys.

It seemed that Logan had finally noticed Veronica's other form. Her pink bikini bottom clad form.

Wearing only a half wet suit, Veronica gave Logan a pleasant view of her toned legs. A view so pleasant that if he enjoyed them any more, everyone would be able to gauge just how much he enjoyed them.

When the sun began to dip low in the sky, the three called it quits and packed it in.

Walking in from the shoreline, Dick remembered to ask, "So how _do_ you two know each other?"

"I just met him at soccer practice."

"Yeah. Those knee socks, man. Work of art."

"Shut up!" She elbowed him. "I was not wearing knee socks. That was Lilly."

"Seriously. Does she manhandle you, too?"

"All the time. And, hold up. Lilly Kane? Lilly Kane's in soccer, too? And she was wearing knee socks? That's so hot. Why didn't I join when you told me to?!"

"That'd be her. And because, and I quote, you said 'There's not enough hot chicks.'"

"I'm man enough to admit that I was wrong."

"Uh-huh. How would you know if Lilly was pretty anyway?"

"One. Hot and pretty are two different things. Lilly Kane is hot. Two. That high school grapevine I keep telling you about. You need to listen to gossip more."

"Gossip's not always true."

"Most of the time it is. Remember that thing with Wanda Varner? There's a lot of truth in rumors."

"Yeah," she solemnly remembered the peppy-turned-bad-girl-turned-narc Wanda. Even though Veronica didn't approve of drugs, Veronica didn't like the way Wanda had turned her back on her friends and tattled on them either. Friends were important, too, and Wanda was being selfish for choosing to save only herself. "You just better remember looks are deceiving. That Lilly Kane is a handful."

They reached Dick's truck first, and he put his surfboard in the back. "That's what I'm hoping."

Veronica's face scrunched up in disgust. "Gross."

Silently, Logan debated with himself about just how much he should tell them about Lilly. Lilly was not, by any stretch of the imagination, his friend. However, she was the sister of his best friend. That meant that Lilly deserved some privacy regarding her fuckups. Veronica should be okay without his help anyway. Veronica seemed smarter than the usual crowd of people who fell over themselves for Lilly. So, he sighed and vaguely said, "Yeah, she's hard to get used to. But Duncan's cool. We should all surf together sometime."

"He's a surfer, too? Man, that night was kind of a blur. He was that guy who couldn't handle beer, right?"

"That's the one," Logan said affectionately. "I've been trying to build up his tolerance for a few months."

Veronica rolled her eyes and was about to comment about their drinking when Dick's phone rang.

"Sorry, dude and dudette. It's Cass."

"His brother," Veronica explained to Logan.

They heard snippets of the Dick's side of the conversation. "Like right now right now? I need to take Veronica home."

Veronica asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

"Dad wants me to head straight home and go to the shooting range with him." He spoke into his phone again. "Can't you tell him to wait?"

"I can take Veronica home," Logan offered.

Dick paused and looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"It's no big deal. Are you okay with it, Veronica?"

"Yeah. Have fun with your dad, Dick."

"Thanks a lot, man." Returning to his phone, he said, "Tell him I'll be home in fifteen. Bye." He hung up and stated, "I'll see you two later. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Not one to let the easy ones go, Veronica quickly replied, "No human sacrificing after midnight. Got it. Bye."

Logan didn't comment and laughed, "See you later, man."

Dick drives away, and they walked over to Logan's Xterra. They didn't see Dick redial his brother, thanking him for helping him with his scheme.

Logan turned to Veronica and noticed that she looks troubled. He asked, "What's wrong?"

She groaned, "I left my shorts in his truck."

"The way I see it, you haven't really answered my question. I said what's _wrong_."

"You're a riot."

"I think I can cheer you up. Wanna grab that ice cream now? We've got them beat. The rule's only for no _shirts_ and no _shoes_."

Veronica weighed out the pros and cons before answering, "You had me at ice cream. Zip's or Amy's? Zip's is best but Amy's is a close second."

"Which one is willing to serve pantsless patrons?"

"Zip's it is. It's nearby. They'll be used to it. And I think I pull off this look very well, thank you very much."

"No complaints here."

She tugged down her top with one hand and punched him with the other. "Come on. I'll give you the directions."

.

"Your tongue's going to turn blue, you know."

Logan licked his blueberry ice cream cone in defiance and said, "I like things that turn my tongue blue." He led them to an open table outside the small shop. "At least I'm not boring. You got vanilla."

"It's a classic. And it's vanilla _bean_. With chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and a maraschino cherry."

"Still boring."

"You poor soul. You'll learn one day."

He didn't have to wait too long to learn just how exciting vanilla could be.

His own ice cream cone was forgotten in his hand, held halfway to its destination, as he stared transfixed at the girl sitting across from him. He was being hypnotized with every bite.

Veronica seemed to have this habit where each spoonful of ice cream always had to have some whipped cream on it. And when she'd take a bite, she'd make sure to lick both sides of the plastic spoon before scooping up more ice cream. He wasn't completely sure she knew about the noises she made as she ate either. She sounded content. Happy. _Pleased_. In any other situation, with any other girl, he would never have guessed that these sounds were elicited by _ice cream_.

She stopped only when the ice cream was finished, only the cherry was left. He watched her hold the candied cherry by its stem and lifted it up to her sweetened lips. He stared as she opened her mouth; her tongue darted out to capture it. She made another contented noise.

But he didn't hear it this time because he had already snapped.

He stood up abruptly and tossed his ice cream away. The clattering of the metal chair startled Veronica out of her ice cream high.

She jumped out of her chair and caught up to him the parking lot. Concerned, she asked him, "What's wrong? Why'd you run out?"

He didn't turn back to look at her, afraid of what he might do that could ruin their friendship. "Sorry. I just remembered that my father's home and wants to have a family dinner tonight."

"Oh, no. Is it too late?"

Logan regretted lying to her when he heard her genuine concern but stuck with his lie. "No. We've got some time, but do you mind if we hurry?"

"Of course not! Come on."

Veronica grabbed his arm and forced him to jog to his car.

"I'm really sorry that you have to take me home, too."

He started the engine and finally looked over to her. "It's fine, Veronica. I wanted to. I had fun."

Logan's tension eased as they made small talk and joked with each other on their way to Veronica's place.

He parked in front of her modest home and helped her carry her surfboard to her front door.

She went to insert her house key but jumped back when the door unexpectedly swung open.

.

Keith stood in the doorway and looked at his teenage daughter standing next to a boy he didn't recognize. "Hey, sweetie. Hello, boy I have never seen before."

"Logan, this is my dad. Dad, this is Logan Echolls. And now you've seen him."

"Hi, Mr. Mars. It's nice to meet you."

"Please, Logan. Call me Sheriff Mars."

"Dad!"

He looked indulgently at Veronica. "Alright. Mr. Mars is fine. Where have you two been and why are you not wearing pants?"

"I left them in Dick's car," Veronica explained, trying to take the surfboard back from Logan.

"And where's Dick?"

"With his dad. Logan offered to take me home and was helping me carry it."

"Thank you for taking care of my daughter, Logan. Your parents must have raised you to be a fine gentleman." The threat in his voice was evident to the people present.

Logan bit back a sarcastic reply about his parents and said, "Thank you, sir. I—"

Veronica never heard the end of his sentence because Backup had bounded towards Logan and playfully tackled him to the ground. To save him from her puppy's slobbery kisses, Veronica handed her surfboard to her father to hold and scooped her puppy up.

"Veronica, I think your dog's been picking up a lot of your bad habits."

"I do not slobber," she said indignantly.

He chuckled, "I hope not. But I don't think I can handle any more 'play fighting'."

Amused, Keith asks, "She punches you, too?"

"Since the day we met, unfortunately."

.

Keith had watched the way Backup had played with Logan with scrutiny. Keith didn't tell Veronica, but before he had given him to Veronica, Backup was training to be a police dog. And Keith trusted Backup's instincts. So when Backup had taken a liking to Logan, Keith relaxed.

"Good. I'm not her only punching bag then. Would you like to join us for dinner?"

Forgetting his lie, Logan was about to accept. He was curious to see the kind of house and family Veronica grew up in.

Fortunately, Veronica answered for him, "Logan's having dinner with his own family, Dad. And he's going to be late. Thanks for taking me home. I'll see you Monday, bye."

"Another time then. Goodbye, Logan."

"Bye, Sheriff. Bye, _Ronnie_." He grinned, leaving to go back to his Xterra.

Keith turned back to his daughter and asked, "I thought you hated that name?"

"I do." Veronica smiled and temporarily stored her surfboard to the hallway closet before going up to her room to change.

Keith vowed to keep an eye on Logan Echolls.

.

Veronica finally turned sixteen in August. It was a private affair. Her parents and closest friends werethere, including her most recent addition, Logan.

Earlier that day, she had gone with her father to get her driver's license. Veronica shined after passing and beamed more intensely when she spotted her parents' gift to her. They had surprised her with a Chrysler LeBaron.

At her party, she made use of the camera Logan had given her and started snapping pictures of the occasion.

She paused only to cut the cake and for her guests to sing Happy Birthday.

Holding out a slice of cake and fork, she sat down. "I really love my gift, Logan. Thank you."

He took the styrofoam plate and plastic fork from her and said, "Thanks. And, it was nothing."

"It's everything. It was really thoughtful. How'd you know I liked photography?"

"I didn't, actually. But I saw your photo decorations in your room and thought, why not?"

"Ah. Well this just means I have to find you an even better gift." She tilted her head in thought. "Hey. When's your birthday anyway?"

"March 4th. Planning to start shopping early?"

"No… You're going to be a sophomore when school starts, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you have to repeat a grade?"

"Contrary to what you usually say about me, I'm not stupid."

She furrowed her brow and did a little math in her head. She exclaimed, "But you've been driving!"

Logan was confused. "Yeah. I tend to do that to get around."

"No. I mean, you've been driving without a license."

He laughed, "I have a license."

"You're fifteen."

"Veronica, I have a license…"

Veronica finally caught his meaning and said, "Of course, money talks in this town. You're just like Dick. I hope you at least didn't fail three times like he did."

"Not everyone can be perfect like you, Mars."

Veronica stated, "Pobody's nerfect," before she flicked a particularly large spoonful of chocolate cake at his face. Bullseye.

She ran away before he can retaliate. When she turned around and smiled at him sweetly, he couldn't work up the will to strike back.

.

School was starting soon on September 1st, and Lilly hadn't made much headway on her plan.

The first step was to befriend Veronica, but Veronica hadn't been receptive to her offers of friendship. To be fair, Lilly hadn't exactly been trying very hard to gain her friendship either. She wasn't used to trying hard. People usually fought to curry her favor. And Veronica obviously wasn't one of those people.

She said no to hanging out, no to shopping, no to lunch, no to breakfast, no to dinner, no to brunch, no to parties, no to drinks. Was she stupid?

So, a week ago, Lilly changed tactics. She went off the offensive and started observing Veronica instead. Searching for anything to exploit or use to get Veronica to become her friend. People often underestimated Lilly and pigeonholed her as a typical rich teenage girl, bitchy and vapid. And she could be at times. But she was also observant.

Unfortunately, she didn't have many chances to watch Veronica. Therefore, soccer practice was finally useful for something. It was the only time she was able to observe Veronica until she accepted one of Lilly's many invitations hang out elsewhere. But, that was for only a few hours a day, and they were usually busy with other things so she didn't have the time to learn much.

It was the times before and after practice that were gold.

Sometimes her father or mother would pick her up or drop her off from practice. Sometimes Veronica would walk. The times Veronica's mother would drive her, she'd look tense and hurry her mother off. She also noticed that Veronica was more comfortable with her father and took her time with him. Veronica was close with a lot of the people on the team, excluding Sean Friedrich and John Enbom. However, they still held valuable information for Lilly. From these two, Lilly learned about Neptune's social structure. She learned about the 09ers and considered them worthy enough to be her subjects. She learned about the hierarchy; typical in most places with the richest people at the top and given special privileges. Veronica's father was only a local sheriff and her mother was a housewife. There was nothing spectacular about Veronica. Yet, she was very well liked and some considered her quite popular. Coach Roberts adored her, and her teammates admired her; the ones who didn't like her admired her begrudgingly.

Through her own observations, she noticed the friendship between Veronica and Logan that appeared to be a little more than friendship. And for the time being, Lilly tucked this bit of information away, knowing that it'd be useful for later stages of her plan.

Lilly was waiting for a day when neither her father nor her mother came to pick her up to offer her a ride home.

She spotted Veronica getting ready to walk home and forced Duncan to get a ride home from Logan. She called her over, "Veronica!"

Veronica's head whipped around before she located the person calling for her. Lilly saw her eyes narrow in suspicion and smiled as if she didn't notice.

"Do you want a ride home?"

"It's okay. I can walk."

"Don't be silly. I can drive you home. Where do you live?"

"It's fine, Lilly. You don't have to do this."

"Of course I don't have to. But I want to."

Veronica stopped in front of her, "Why?"

Donning on the guise of someone who wasn't confident, someone who wasn't Lilly, she replied, "I want to apologize. I really want to be your friend, and I think we got off on the wrong foot."

Veronica didn't say anything, so Lilly continued, "Let me give you a ride home. I'd like to talk to you if you'd let me."

Lilly could see the conviction waning and delivered a critical strike, "I don't have any real friends, Veronica. And, I know you think it's because I'm a bitch. But, I'm a bitch _because_ I don't have any real friends. Every person I meet wants to be my friend because I'm rich. But I need a real friend. Someone I can talk to and trust. Please just give me a chance?"

Like Lilly had predicted, Veronica accepted Lilly's offer. She sat in the passenger seat and gave her the directions to her house before apologizing. "I'm sorry, Lilly. I had no idea. I just assumed…"

Such a fucking bleeding heart. Always ready to take pity on others and help. She was weak, and Lilly would take great pleasure in breaking her.

Lilly made sure to drive slowly, slightly under the speed limit to prolong their trip. "It's okay. Really. I understand. I'm sorry for being such a bitch before to you too. I just had to be sure you weren't like everyone else, you know?"

Veronica placed a comforting hand on Lilly's shoulder and rubbed it slightly in a soothing manner before folding her hands in her lap. "I had no idea you had it so bad."

"It's okay. I don't really want anyone to know."

"Do you really have no friends to talk to?"

"Nope."

"Well. Friends aren't everything. Family will always be there for you." Lilly tried really hard not to roll her eyes at her clichéd words of comfort. "My dad gives me the best advice."

"I wish I could say the same about my dad."

Veronica was confused, like she had never realized that fathers could be bad before. "You guys aren't close?"

"Nope. But it's not as bad as me and Celeste." Lilly was certain she would have Veronica right where she wanted her with her little act.

"Celeste?"

She laid it on thick. "Mommy dearest. I'm practically invisible to her unless something goes wrong. And suddenly it's all my fault."

"That's horrible."

Lilly caught the empathy in her eyes at the mention of her difficulties with her mother. "I don't blame her. I haven't exactly been a daughter she could be proud of, you know?"

Veronica quickly lied, "I'm sure you've been a good daughter. It's not your fault. Mothers are just… hard to understand sometimes." And Lilly knew that she was going to win.

She let a few crocodile tears fall and parked in front of Veronica's house. "Thanks Veronica. Well here we are. Thanks for talking to me, too." She pretended to try to hide the tears and felt Veronica place a hand on her shoulder again.

"It was really no problem, Lilly. You can talk to me anytime you want."

"Thanks, Veronica. I knew you were a good person." Something that Lilly planned to change with time. "I know this might be pushing it, but do you want to go shopping with me this weekend?"

For the first time, Veronica accepted.

Lilly smiled. Gotcha.

.

After everything she had put into her plan to befriend Veronica, Lilly was slightly disappointed that it had been so easy to gain her complete trust and total friendship. But she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

As Veronica's friend—_close _friend, now—, Lilly was privy to many of Veronica's inane little secrets.

Veronica liked to sneak out after curfew to go to the beach (to play with Backup). She drank alcohol (once; a half a flute of champagne with Carmen at Christmas). She played spin the bottle and kissed Casey Gant (almost; she had chickened out and Casey was afraid to kiss the daughter of a man whose job required him to carry a gun). She gambled (poker with her father's deputies using M&M's as casino chips).

Lilly would've killed herself with a blunt object a long time ago, but she was determined to find something she could use.

Then, after several agonizing hangout sessions with Veronica, she finally had it. Veronica Mars had let it slip that she had a crush on Logan Echolls. She tried to deny it, but after some coaxing and insincere reassurances, Veronica admitted that she may have liked Logan. Lilly had suspected that there was something between the two of them during her preliminary observations, but confirmation just made things so much better.

If there was one thing Lilly Kane understood, it was boys. If there was another thing she understood, then it would have to be girls' insecurities when it came to boys. Of course, she never experienced that emotion firsthand. She did, however, happen to be the main reason for the insecurities of a number of girlfriends in the past, present, and she could confidently say, the future.

She would take Veronica's inexperience and insecurities to convince Veronica that she knew what Logan wanted and that it wasn't who Veronica was now. She would convince Veronica to change. She would tell her how to dress, how to do her makeup, how to talk, walk, act, live. But first, baby steps.

She would turn her bad from the outside in, starting with Veronica's appearances.

.

Duncan watched Veronica. It wasn't on purpose at first, but then it became a habit. It began as his usual routine of watching Lilly… to keep her out of trouble. His main focus was Lilly, and Veronica was barely in his peripheral vision. It wasn't until he started to notice the changes in Veronica that Veronica became the center of his attention.

She started wearing makeup to practice (like Lilly). Her clothes were less practical (like Lilly). She grew out her blonde hair (like Lilly). He noticed that Veronica's hair was almost the exact same shade of honey as Lilly's hair, if only a tad lighter. But her hair definitely had a wavy texture to it (like Lilly's).

Duncan couldn't help comparing the two girls and came to the conclusion that Veronica was better.

Veronica wasn't his sister. He could deal with that.

She became the star in his dreams.

.

"Lilly, are you sure about this?"

The two of them were getting ready in Lilly's room. They were headed to Dick's end of summer party. She had already lied to her father about having a sleepover with Lilly. It wasn't the first time she had lied to her father because Lilly told her to either, and Veronica felt that it wouldn't be the last.

"Trust me—" She wondered if she should. "—Logan will love this dress on you."

Veronica held the strapless, red satin dress to her body. It was shorter than what she was used to. And she was hesitant to wear it, but Lilly said it would work to get Logan's attention.

Thinking back, she was beginning to doubt that Lilly's advice was helping.

Logan hadn't been acting any differently towards her, like he suddenly had an epiphany and wanted to be more than friends with her.

No, they were still _only_ friends. They hung out in both groups and individually. The upside of this was that she had also gotten to know Duncan better. He seemed more than friendly enough now; it seemed that he only needed to warm up to her. She figured that he had the same problems as Lilly about trusting people and wanted to make sure that Veronica wasn't in it for his money. So, she couldn't and didn't hold his initial aloofness against him.

Looking back at herself in the full length mirror, Veronica wasn't sure how she had gotten to this point. Somewhere along the line, after she had told Lilly about her possible crush on Logan, Lilly had whisked her away on a mission to get her and Logan together. It wasn't even a question of whether or not she wanted to date Logan, it was more of how Lilly was going to help her get him.

She fingered the hem of the dress. She hadn't questioned why she was doing much of anything since Lilly took charge and told her what to do and how to act. She was just swept up in the whirlwind that was Lilly.

"Lilly, why am I doing this?"

"Veronica Mars," she said, admonishing her slightly. "You asked for my help with what to wear, and I'm delivering."

"I meant with everything. Not just this. I don't think I'm ready for a boyfriend yet…"

Lilly quickly moved to stand behind Veronica, and Veronica looked at their reflections in the mirror. "_You're_ the one who wanted this, remember?" she said firmly.

Then she laughed happily and started fixing Veronica's hair, all while holding her gaze.

Veronica was almost hypnotized by their reflection. Feeling Lilly's soothing hands in her hair and smiling face, she relaxed.

Right. This was what she wanted.

.

One day, Logan caught one look at Veronica and Lilly coming off the soccer field together and finally realized why Veronica had felt so off lately. Veronica was turning into Lilly.

Or, he suspected was more the case, Lilly was trying to turn Veronica into Lilly.

He was vehemently against their friendship, but no amount of warning would make Veronica break off her friendship with Lilly. So, like a good _friend_, Logan tried to keep her away from Lilly whenever he could by hanging out with Veronica more often. He figured that he could protect her from Lilly better if he was around more or kept her busy doing other Lillyless things.

He found it interesting that he he had to protect someone from the girl that he used to help Duncan protect. And he wondered what sort of hold Lilly had over Veronica to invoke such a friendship. He thought she was stronger than that. On more than a few occasions, he was tempted to get Lilly alone and force her to confess to drugging Veronica, but he didn't.

Seeing Veronica at Dick's party made him wish he had. It was the first time he had seen her at one of these parties. The parties usually started late at night, way past Veronica's curfew, so she never accepted when he invited her.

He watched her enter with Lilly. They wore similar strapless red dresses. It was almost like Lilly had used Veronica as her personal, life sized doll. No, it _was_ that.

Logan had watched as Veronica allowed Lilly into her life and was thankful that she was at least still mostly herself under all the changes Lilly made.

Logan walked up behind the two and led Veronica away from Lilly to an empty loveseat in the living room. Lilly tried to keep her grip on Veronica's arm, but Veronica waved her off. He saw Lilly's annoyance flash across her face before she went to entertain herself with the other 09er boys.

"So, you come here often?"

"Only when I'm looking for some lovin'."

"I didn't know you swung that way, Logan. Sorry, I guess I _did_ interrupt your first date with Dick."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me. But I could say the same about you, too. What are you doing here, Veronica? Did the Sheriff finally extend your curfew?"

"The skies are clear of pigs, so no. I kinda told him I was having a sleepover at Lilly's tonight."

"Your dad's okay with Lilly now?"

"Not exactly. Dad was sulking, but Mom convinced him I'd be okay."

"That Mars charm must be a genetic thing then. Is it tiring to see men bend to your will?"

"Yes, but it's a cross I have to bear," she said dramatically.

Logan and Veronica spent the next hour on the couch together, talking about the upcoming school year. Eventually, they ended up talking about the upcoming soccer season.

He could hear the regret in her voice when she said, "I'm actually not joining soccer next year. Pep Squad's going to take up most of my time after school."

"Since when do you do Pep Squad?"

"Since I quit soccer."

Logan was silent, waiting for her to give him a real reason.

"…and since Lilly told me to join it with her."

He sighed. He knew it had something to do with Lilly. "You need to stop letting her control you so much."

She protested, "She's not! She's just helping me."

"With what?"

"Being a normal teenager."

"You were a normal teenager."

"Not really… Lilly says I was too tomboyish."

"The things Lilly says amount to shit. Veronica, she's changing you," he said, suddenly adopting an aggressive tone.

Defensively, she responded, "So what? Maybe I like the changes."

He looked her directly in the eye, "Do you like lying to your dad? Going to a party where you don't like more than half the people? Wearing sluttier clothes? Drinking? When was the last time you saw Carmen outside of practice?"

In a small voice, she said, "I don't know. And I've been out with you or Lilly so much…"

He exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "Right, sorry Veronica. I guess that last one was my fault, too."

"No. I don't know. I'm sorry, too. I guess. But, that girl I was before? I've been trying to let her go so I can be someone that someone else could actually like."

"You're changing yourself for a boy?" he accused. Angry and jealous, he said, "That's moronic."

Her insecurities bubbled up. Hurt, she said quietly, "No, it's what I need to do. Lilly says boys were afraid of the old me. Lilly says I intimidated them. No one liked the old me."

His anger quickly faltered at her words and confessed, "I did."

He saw her blue eyes widen, and her glossy lips parted slightly.

He rubbed his thumb across her bottom lip to wipe away some of the artificial shine and cupped her face with his right hand.

She tilted her face up to him. Her eyes closed.

He leaned in closer to her.

And... groaned in surprise and pain.

.

Duncan had been watching Logan and Veronica from his seat at the makeshift bar.

The two were talking in low voices, so he couldn't hear anything. He didn't need to anyway.

Logan's hand was on Veronica's cheek.

He stood from his seat.

Veronica's eyes closed and lips parted.

He maneuvered quickly to the loveseat.

Logan leaned forward.

He threw himself onto Logan and played drunk.

He had saved Veronica for the time being.

.

Her eyes fluttered open in shock when she heard Logan groan.

Duncan was sprawled on top of him.

She swore he was about to kiss her, but the moment had passed. So, instead, she asked, "Is he okay?"

"Not sure. He's a lightweight, remember? I think I have to take him to my place to sleep it off. Sorry, Veronica." His eyes indicated that he was sorry for more than just having to leave early.

"No worries. I should find Dick anyway. He says I've been neglecting him again."

"He's a little like a dog, isn't he?"

"As if. Even Backup doesn't need that much attention."

Logan kept a steady hold of Duncan and helped him to his feet. "I'll agree with you there. Be safe, bobcat."

Veronica's chest tightened. It reminded her of how she was before she became friends with Lilly. He hadn't used his nickname for her since she became friend with Lilly. She almost thought he had forgotten about it. It was only a few months, but the summer had seemed to have lasted so much longer.

"I'm in a party with drunk teenagers and tons of alcohol. How could I possibly get into trouble?"

"Just a thought." He used the hand not currently propping up Duncan to play with a few strands of her hair. "Don't let her change too much, Mars."

"She's not doing anything I don't want her to." Even as she said it, she was doubting herself, and Logan knew it.

Regardless, Logan plastered a grin on his face and saluted her mockingly. "Goodnight, Captain."

"Night, Logan."

She wanted to call him back. To ditch Duncan, so they could pick up where they had left off. Before Duncan had gotten drunk and ruined her _almost _first kiss with Logan.

But she didn't. The moment had passed after all.

.

Summer has ended. Come Monday, they would start their first day of school and pretend that everything has gone back to normal.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To **Calypso**: Of course Papa Bear will show up! Just not for a few more chapters. Or, that's what I've planned out anyway. Sometimes when I'm writing, I rethink certain plot points and things change. To **missshay16**: For the Duncan/Veronica thing... _Nervous laughter_. No comment? To **ShanghaiLily**: Yeah, I just can't bring myself to write Logan too angsty or sad when he can be cute. ^^ Like I said in the previous A/N, Lianne is self-absorbed and doesn't think much of her marriage to Keith. She tells Jake that Veronica is his because that's what she really thinks. She's not trying to lie to Jake or mislead him, she's just extremely delusional. Jake is willing to accept and believe that Veronica is his because he's happy playing the perfect family with Lianne; it makes their situation more like a real marriage instead of a sordid affair. Jake's fault here is that he's also self-absorbed, delusional, and is blinded by his love for Lianne. So, neither bother with a paternity test, preferring to blindly believe that they have a perfect little (secret) family. Whether or not their beliefs turn out to be true, well, that'll be answered in later (Or in the A/N of later chapters because I'm constantly worried about whether or not people can follow the plot and like to make sure that everyone understands). I also agree Duncan/Lilly is creepy; so no hate felt haha. And somehow, I don't think the Duncan/Veronica switch made things better. And just as a warning, Duncan's a bit twisted in this fic, if you haven't noticed already. This fic is a lot about redemption, so we will see about Lilly ^^

And I just realized where some people might be confused about the paternity thing; so, this might help: Keith never told Lianne about the paternity test he did.

So surprise winner in the Madison/Lilly (confrontation that was barely a) throw down—Veronica.

If I haven't succeeded in making it clear before (I hope to at least make it clear in later chapters, too), Lilly's got some serious daddy issues. Pretty typical of rich girls, unfortunately. So, she really wasn't lying when she was talking with Veronica about her parents and not having anyone to talk to. I don't think Lilly herself realizes how deeply her parents have affected her. And now that I think about it, a lot of characters on the show have mommy issues/daddy issues/mommy and daddy issues of some kind: Veronica, Logan, Wallace, Mac, Madison, Dick, Cassidy, Lilly, Duncan, Meg, Jackie, Lamb, Trina, etc. The list kinda goes on. Families are hard…

Fun fact: I didn't even think about having the little Ronnie/Veronica confusion thing for Logan until I was writing Dick and Logan's conversation last chapter. ^^ But I hope you guys liked it. Bonus, it's 4am, and I'm still editing this chapter.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: Let the teenage melodrama begin. School starts (and ends if I have anything to say about it; this is a bit of a filler chapter with some important/fun plot points before we get to the real fun and the start of the series). A little bit of interference from Duncan. More surfing; they are in southern California, folks.

I apologize for the imminent slowing down in updates as things get more complicated to write about, and I get busier. Summer isn't just summer anymore when you have to study.

I await your help/feedback. It gives me ideas so I can fix/add/delete things.


	4. Chapter 4

**King of Mars**

A/N: I'm trying to move things along because of my limited time, so there have been sacrifices made to some story details. :(

Chapter 4

.

The previously unified 09ers with their 'us against _them_' attitude were in the midst of a civil war. Madison was at the usual area where the 09ers sat. However, Lilly had set herself up under a different set of umbrella-covered tables across the lunch area.

The tension was palpable as she stepped into the quad carrying her bag lunch and would have quickly identified the reason even if Lilly didn't tipped her off. Over the weekend, Lilly had exaggeratedly explained to Veronica that she was revolutionizing the social hierarchy at Neptune. She claimed that the other 09er girls said that Madison had an oppressive reign over the student body, and she wanted to fix that. Not wanting to create conflict, Veronica had simply nodded along as Lilly described all the ways she was planning to help

Veronica couldn't help but notice that all of her plans had Lilly in the position of power with everyone else happily obeying her.

The 09ers must have seen it coming, too. Veronica watched as most 09ers stepped into the quad, straightened their backs, and walked over to the person they would pledge their allegiance to.

"Veronica! Over here, dorkus." Lilly waved her arm to catch Veronica's attention.

Veronica smiled and waved back before sitting down next to Lilly. She was slightly ashamed to feel a rush of relief when Lilly had waved her over. She had been so worried that Lilly wouldn't want to be her friend anymore since she wasn't an 09er or in the same year as Lilly. She thought Lilly would've replaced her with someone else she could talk to, someone who was more worthy, once school started and there were more people to choose from.

"Hey, Lilly," she greeted, opening her paper brown bag. She dug around and pulled out a sandwich, two cookies, and pudding cup. It wasn't spectacular, but it was better than the lunch they served in the school cafeteria.

Usually her mother would make her a better lunch consisting of whatever music she was in the mood for and could cook to. But, Veronica knew she wouldn't wake up in time, so she woke up early and prepared her own lunch for the first time.

"That's so _quaint_," Lilly gushed, "Did your mom make it for you? You're so lucky. Isn't that cute, everyone?"

Veronica didn't quite know why, but she felt embarrassed that Lilly had called attention to her lunch. With as much false cheer as she could muster, she said, "I actually made it myself."

"Well, us big kids here ordered out. It's pizza if you want some." Lilly then regaled her audience with her adventures at Harvard-Westlake. Veronica smiled but remained silent, preferring to survey the lunch area.

Lilly's claimed kingdom seated Duncan, Logan, Caitlin Ford, Pam Powell, John Enbom, and herself at the center. By sitting near her, they had brazenly declared themselves as Lilly supporters.

Pam was noticeably not at Madison's table with Madison and Shelly, choosing to take her chances at hooking up with Duncan. She played the sycophant very well. Caitlin was also doing an impressive job of clinging to Logan's side as well.

In between Lilly's table and Madison's table were the rest of the 09ers, sitting closest to the girl they thought would reign Neptune High.

At Madison's table, Veronica could see Meg Manning, Cole Christianson, Dick, Cassidy, Sean, Kimmy Collins, and Shelly. Sean Friedrich was immaturely avoiding all things having to do with Veronica. He wasn't sure, but he knew she had something to do with his embarrassment over summer.

She caught Dick's eye during her perusal, and he gave her a goofy smile that she returned with equal goofiness. She saw him get Cassidy's attention who also smiled at her in acknowledgment. She wanted to do more than just smile at them, but for the time being, they could do little else until a peace treaty between Lilly and Madison was drawn up.

As much as Veronica wanted Dick to permanently break up with Madison, she knew that Dick genuinely liked her and wanted to stay with her. So, she understood why he didn't want to unnecessarily upset her by talking to anyone from Lilly's side or showing anything less than complete allegiance to Madison.

Focusing back on her lunch, Veronica grabbed one of the snickerdoodles she had made the night before and inadvertently bumped elbows with the person sitting to the right of her.

She felt him shift and scoot further away from her; a hard task to do while seated at a circular lunch table.

Logan obviously had no idea how to be inconspicuous, she thought. But just to be sure… Veronica casually ran her right hand through her hair and brushed her arm against his when she let it drop.

His inching away confirmed her suspicions.

She expected that he'd want to forget and ignore that they almost kissed, but this was ridiculous. It was half a step forward and five steps back. At least before _the incident_, he didn't flinch every time she touched him, either accidentally or purposely. Though they talked and he was friendly towards her, he hadn't even teased her or playfully flirted with her once in their morning classes.

She missed it.

He took the cookie she offered him, careful not to inadvertently touch her hand.

.

Logan was not having a good first day of school. Usually Logan loved school because it was further reprieve from his father during the times when he wasn't shooting a movie or promoting himself. However, today was his own personal hell as he resisted and avoided all physical contact with Veronica Mars.

After using the previous weekend to commit himself to giving up whatever feelings he had for Veronica that went past friendship and focus on seeing her as a little sister, whatever twisted deity above thought it would be amusing to have them share four out of six classes together.

In gym class, he begged for mercy and prayed that Neptune dressed their female students in shapeless gym clothes instead of form fitting outfits like his previous school. But, his prayers went unanswered.

Then there was lunch. She just had to be all adorable with her cute little pudding cup and fucking cookies that he just _knew_ were made with love. Her love. She said she made them herself. He could taste it as he savored the one she offered him. She was playing dirty.

Thankfully, Duncan's presence was enough to keep him in line. He was torturing himself for his best friend, so it was worth it.

After bringing Duncan to his Xterra the night of Dick's party, Duncan had drunkenly confessed to liking Veronica. Despite his shock, Logan tried to help his friend into the back to lie down but Duncan had clung onto him, refusing to let go until Logan promised not to do anything with Veronica.

So, he promised him. And there he sat, keeping his promise and pretending to see Veronica through the eyes of an older brother.

Had it been anyone else, Logan would have put up a marvelous fight and more than likely won. But, it was _Duncan_. Not only was he his best friend, he also happened the perfect all-American boy that parents loved and girls swooned over. He was smart in school and great at sports. He would be a perfect match for Veronica.

Logan once overheard the mother of a girl he was _courting_ call him a rake and he couldn't really disagree or correct her. This was all the more reason to leave Veronica in Duncan's noble hands. Duncan would keep her safe.

He and the Sheriff were similar in that they both wanted to protect Veronica from the dirtiness of the real world. Hell, if Logan suggested putting Veronica inside a custom-made hamster ball, he was a little over ninety percent sure that Keith would agree wholeheartedly with his plan.

His first meeting with the Sheriff caught him off guard, and he was visibly nervous. He knew he was being looked over from head to toe for any signs of impropriety. And, he could practically feel the door slamming into his face until Backup had saved him by knocking him over. After that, he noticed that Keith's demeanor had changed and his eyes held something akin to begrudging acceptance, as if Logan had passed some sort of secret test. Though curious, he wasn't stupid enough to question the change.

Fortunately for Logan, although he wasn't able join them for dinner that night; there were plenty of subsequent offers that he enthusiastically accepted. He enjoyed dinner with Veronica's family a lot more than dinners with his own. However, after the first dinner at her house, he suspected that Veronica's home life wasn't as perfect as he imagined it to be.

Growing up in a house with Aaron, he had to quickly learn how to read a room if he wanted to avoid unpleasant consequences. He could tell that there was something about her mom that Veronica was hiding from him; Veronica seemed to always be distressed when she was around. He noticed that she tensed whenever she opened the door to her house and either remained tense if her mother was there or relaxed when she wasn't.

Watching her mother, he recognized some signs of alcohol abuse that he had occasionally seen in his own mother. The bleary, red eyes. Tired appearance. Late mornings spent sleeping… But, he never worked up the nerve to ask Veronica about it. If Veronica wanted to hide it from him, he wouldn't push it, but he made sure that she knew she could talk to him.

He was pulled from his thoughts and pulled into the soft scent of warm vanilla coming from Veronica as she ran her hand through her hair and shook out the tangles. The caress of Veronica's arm abruptly pulled him right back out again and into the reality of Duncan's jealous stare. And, he dutifully moved away from her, making sure to leave at least three inches of space between any of their body parts at all times.

Unfortunately, that meant he was closer to Caitlin Ford than he ever wanted to be. Fantastic.

.

Lilly had a fantastic first day at school. Her classmates worshiped her.

And after pep squad practice, Veronica had told Lilly about how Logan was acting and asked why a boy would do that after almost sharing a kiss. Lilly took this chance to further lead Veronica down a less reputable path and told her that all she had to do to get his attention was to flirt with other boys. Logan would get jealous, and she'd have his attention. She had even graciously offered Veronica some of her clothes to wear.

Honestly, Lilly couldn't care less if her advice worked. At this point in her plan, she was more interested in making Veronica look more promiscuous. It would help plant seeds of doubt about her character and provide supporting evidence for the rumors she would later start.

Lilly was taking her time with this particular scheme, thinking only of how happy she'd be when her plan was successfully concluded.

But even now she already took some perverse pleasure in having Veronica lie, sneak out, or drink. She had her wrapped around her finger, so eager to please and naïve. She didn't even realize when Lilly was making fun of her or insulting her. All the more fun, Lilly thought.

.

With Lianne excusing herself early for bed, the house's atmosphere was clear of anxiety. Keith and Veronica sat contentedly at their wooden dining room table.

Keith heaped another generous portion of lasagna onto his plate. Veronica's cooking greatly improved since her first try mere weeks ago. He suspected she was compensating for her mother's slacking off, but he didn't say anything except to voice his approval and praise her.

"You're going to need a new uniform if you keep eating like that, Pops."

"Can I help it that my daughter's a wonderful cook? You're going to make some man very lucky in the future, honey. The far, far and distant future."

"Too late, I'm already planning to elope next week. There's a killer biology assignment I need to avoid."

"That must be some assignment. But before you go running off, you think you can take a measly day out of your busy schedule and spend some time with your old man?"

"Aww. Miss me already? School just started; you're going to have to toughen up. But if you insist, I guess I can pencil you in before the big day."

"We haven't had a daddy-daughter day in forever since your fancy new friends came to town."

Thinking, she said, "It's only been a few weeks."

"Months."

"One month," she defended.

"Before your birthday," he compromised.

"Fine," she acquiesced. "And I promise you'll take priority over my fancy new friends from now on."

"Good. Now how about those bread sticks?"

Veronica passed him the basket of bread sticks while happily munching on her own. She talked about her first day of school, pep squad practice, Lilly, her other friends, classes, just about everything. Except Logan.

Keith was curious since she was so close with Logan—perhaps too close—, but he was nowhere near equipped to deal with boy problems. So, he let it go, allowing her to chatter on.

He missed spending time with his daughter like this. She was growing up so fast and spent so much time hanging out with friends.

Lilly had seemed to monopolize all of his daughter's time. And whenever she wasn't with Lilly, she was with Logan. After that, it was her other friends. She just didn't have as much time for him anymore. And with his irregular schedule at the station, they constantly missed each other and had to put in a lot of effort to see each other.

And each time he saw her, she seemed to have changed a little bit more from the little girl he remembered. He wondered, was it growing up? Or was it Lilly?

Keith didn't approve of her friendship with Lilly Kane. He didn't disapprove because of who her father was but because she was a negative influence on Veronica. Veronica who now lied to him about where she was going, what she was doing, and who she was with. She wasn't as sneaky as she thought she was. But it worried him that she was learning. He overlooked some of Veronica's blatant lies—she didn't have much practice before—because he didn't want to seem overbearing, but he always worried.

Lianne, however, was completely supportive of Veronica and Lilly's relationship. She often overruled some of his decisions about when Veronica went out with Lilly. And it angered him to no end because he was certain he knew why she wanted Veronica to be friends with Lilly.

But, whatever reasons he has for wanting to keep Veronica away from Lilly went unvoiced because Veronica was happy. And that was his highest priority. He would deal with the fallout from his decisions if need be. He would be there for her. He had a sneaking suspicion he would have to be.

At the very least, she was still spending time with the Casablancas boys and Logan. He knew they'd protect her; they had Backup's seal of approval. He hadn't seen Carmen in a while though. The two girls used to be joined at the hip.

Interrupting her story about how the other girls on pep squad reacted to the school's proposed uniform change, Keith asked, "That's about all I can handle about the school dress code, honey. Let's change the subject. How's Carmen?"

Veronica had a startled look in her eyes. "She's fine. Why?"

"I haven't seen her in a while. Are you two okay?"

"Of course," Veronica exclaimed, a little louder than necessary. "We've just been busy. She's in soccer and I'm on pep squad now. We'll see more of each other once things settle down."

"That's good. I wouldn't want you to lose your old friends because you've made new ones."

"I won't. Don't you worry your pretty little head."

"What, me worry?"

"The innocent act doesn't work when you've trained me how to spot when someone's lying or hiding something."

"There it is. I knew it'd bite me in the ass one day."

"Language! There are impressionable children about," she said, laughing.

"You tell me when you see one," he teased, some truth in his words. She was growing up.

.

After over three weeks of playing cat and mouse with Logan, Veronica asked him, "Do you think Lilly will let me sit with Carmen today?"

They were sitting in French and were supposed to be practicing simple conversations in French.

"Si tu dois demander…" he replied.

"Tu ne m'aides pas," she was tired of French. "What do you think though?"

He hesitated before answering bluntly, "I think you shouldn't give one fuck about what Lilly thinks and sit wherever and with whomever you want. And that you shouldn't let Lilly use you like one of her pawns."

"Merci…" she said before slowly asking, "What do you think she'll say?"

"She'll say that you can do whatever you want, but what she'll really mean is that you better sit with her or she'll be pissed."

"Oh." She thought about what he said. It was entirely possible for Lilly to react that way. She knew Lilly was no good girl. Lilly had revealed her vulnerable side to Veronica, but it didn't mean that the other half of her personality she developed had vanished.

Madame Rousseau sharply clapped her hands behind them, causing both of them to jump slightly in their seats.

"And what phrases have you two been practicing? I haven't heard anything so far," she stated.

"We were practicing as French mimes. Always a pleasure, Madame." Logan gathered his things, standing to leave.

"Excusez-moi, Monsieur Echolls; the bell has not rung yet." She did not look amused.

Logan smirked. Pointing to the clock, the bell instantly rang.

Madame Rousseau silently fumed but stepped aside to allow Veronica and Logan to leave the classroom.

"You're such an ass. You could've just apologized and moved on. Now she's going to hate us for the rest of high school."

"Oh, Veronica. You can't go through life not doing things just because it might make some people mad," he said, pointedly referring to her dilemma.

"I don't; I just have a low quota," she said quietly. "You think you can sit come with me?" She stumbled over her next words, "You don't have to. I mean. I know Duncan's going to sit with Lilly so you'd probably—"

He silenced her by pressing a finger to her lips. "I'll be there."

"Thanks," she touched her lips and pulled out her compact mirror. "Jerk! You messed up my lip gloss."

"Good. It's nasty." He rubbed his index and thumb together to show her. "See? Sticky crap you don't need."

She frowned at him.

"Trust me. No guy likes goopy lips."

"Lilly says—"

"Jump. Did you remember to ask how high this time?"

"If you're that against me listening to people, I guess I shouldn't listen to you either," she said defiantly, pulling out the tube of lip gloss and liberally applying it to her lips.

"You're learning already," he proudly replied, grinning at her. "I hope you don't regret that when we're running and your hair gets everywhere."

Glaring at him and still defiant, she grabbed his hand and wiped off the artificial gloss using his sleeve before he could jerk out of her grasp. "I regret nothing." She smiled and stuck out her tongue at him, walking to gym with her head held high.

She didn't see him tugging down the sleeve she had just stained with a pink gloss and press it lightly against his lips. He fiddled with the sleeve and stared at it before he realized what he was doing.

Forget it, he thought. Three weeks was enough. He didn't have to act any differently. He could control himself. He could.

Oh yeah, he was in trouble.

.

"She's staring at me, isn't she?" She asked for the tenth time since lunch started.

"No one's staring at you, Veronica." Carmen laughed at her friend's paranoia. It was good to talk her friend again. They hadn't been hanging out as much since she had gone over to, what Carmen liked to refer to as, the dark side. "Relax."

"You're right. I'm going crazy. How's soccer?"

Carmen grimaced, "We're missing our star player. You wouldn't happen to know where she went, would you?"

"I'm looking at her," Veronica replied, sheepish.

"You _are_ crazy. We need a starter. We need a captain. We need you, V."

Veronica looks conflicted. "I'm sorry, I have to go. Lunch is almost over."

"Veronica, wait!" Carmen stopped her friend. "I'm sorry for trying to guilt trip you. We miss you, you know? Come by practice and visit sometimes at least? We should hang out soon, too."

"Definitely. When we're both free," Veronica said. The uncertainty of her words resonating between them.

Carmen let go of Veronica's arm, and Veronica briskly retreated to the halls of the school.

.

In her haste, she slammed into a solid object and frantically held onto whatever she could grab. Whatever she could grab turned out to be Logan whose lips had curved upward upon seeing her. She was aware that he hadn't flinched or threw her off of him. She hoped that was a good sign that things were returning to normal between them.

"Hey. I finally caught you."

Rolling her eyes but inwardly happy, she responded, "You're going to need help if that's your A-material."

"I don't know about that. The girls fall for it every time. I really was looking for you though."

"Oh, the wit," she pretended to swoon. "Why were you looking for me? You knew where I was. It's where you were supposed to be, too."

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was aiding and abetting a fugitive."

"Without me? Aww, shucks. Who was the fugitive? And, don't think my intrigue means that I've forgiven you for abandoning me."

"Next time. I'll make it up to you and tell you who it was, but only if you listen _quietly_."

She mimicked zipping her lips and throwing away the key.

He pretended to pick up her key keep it. "It seems our friend Cassidy has defected from Team Madison and is withdrawing from the little power struggle. I was helping him scope out good places to hide."

She lifted an eyebrow at his actions. "Where'd you guys end up?"

He pouted at her uncooperative behavior and tossed away the useless, imaginary key. "Computer lab."

"In plain sight, my favorite."

"How'd lunch turn out?" He said, trading in his pout for concern.

"Lilly gave me her permission—" she continued, pretending she didn't hear Logan make a sound of disgust, "—and Carmen, some girls from soccer, and I had a nice chat just to catch up… until we started talking about me not joining soccer. I left. And essentially. I feel like crap now."

"Come surfing with us this Saturday then. It'll make you feel better. We're heading to Dog Beach."

"Dog Beach? Oh! It's where I take Backup all the time."

"Then you have to come."

She snorted, "How exactly does that work?"

"It doesn't. But I bet I can tickle you into submission."

"Have you considered becoming a lawyer? Your rhetoric is fantastic."

"It's all about the charm."

"I'll think about it. Lilly usually wants to go shopping or something on Saturday."

"Tell her you have a daddy-daughter day."

"I actually _do_ have a daddy-daughter day coming up."

"Tell her your dad demanded more time with you."

"Don't you think it's bad to have a double standard about whom I can lie to? Lying to Lilly is okay but lying to my Dad isn't?" she mused.

"You're growing up to be such a good girl. A good, clever girl," he patted her on her head twice.

Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered into his ear, "Don't patronize me. I take my taser with me to school, too."

He held out both hands in appeasement and stepped back.

At least he had a reason to step away from her this time. Though, she was sure he knew she would never shock him.

"So, yes?"

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth, mentally calculating the risks of lying to Lilly and accepting Logan's invitation. "My surfboard won't fit in my car safely," she said, resigned, "You'll have to pick me up."

.

They were first to arrive and the last to leave.

Coming up behind her to help strap down their surfboards to the top of his Xterra, he waited for everyone to leave before asking, "Are you and Duncan okay?"

Since finding out that Duncan liked Veronica, he had taken great interest in watching the two of them. And what he saw was very interesting. While Veronica was friendly with Duncan, it was more of a polite friendliness more than anything. Today, he felt Veronica's politeness turn vaguely uncomfortable.

She didn't bother feigning ignorance, "Was I that obvious?"

"You almost killed yourself trying to keep between me and Dick. What do you think?"

"I think I was overreacting. Hopefully."

"About what?" He could venture to guess, but waited for her to answer.

"Do you—do you think Duncan was acting weird today? Like, maybe he kept staring at me? Maybe it was just me. Forget it. I was overreacting," she trailed off, getting into his car.

He followed suit and jumped into the driver's seat. He figured that'd be her reason. But, he found that he couldn't really blame Duncan. She wore just a wetsuit top again and baby blue bikini bottoms. He felt like he was being punished for _something_. It was like the first time they went surfing all over again.

Wisely choosing not to voice his empathy for Duncan, Logan noncommittally said, "Yeah. Maybe? I didn't really notice anything. Hey, if you promise to wear pants this time, I might take you to get some ice cream as a reward for not dying on me."

"I bet you say that to all the girls. Can we go back to your place to shower first? Separately," she amended, seeing the corner of his mouth quirk upwards.

Logan drove to his house and directed her to his pool house. He wanted to avoid any chance of meeting his father. Luck wasn't on his side.

.

Duncan drove around in his new SUV, a present from his sixteenth birthday last week. He tried to clear his head, giving up after half an hour. He headed straight for his room and the restroom when he got home.

Peeling off his wetsuit, he stepped into the warm shower. His mind was full of images of Veronica at the beach. Veronica surfing. Veronica laughing. Veronica glistening in the sun. He thanked God that he had Veronica to keep his thoughts from straying to Lilly. He hadn't had an immoral dream about Lilly since a few weeks after Lilly and Veronica became friends.

It was unfortunate that his friend also seemed enamored with Veronica. But, he had nipped it in the bud by confessing his feelings about Veronica to Logan. Logan was more loyal than that, and he would move on before long. Veronica belonged to Duncan.

Taking himself in hand, he thought, Veronica would be his or no one else's; he'd make sure of that.

Picturing Veronica's small waist and slight curves from that afternoon, he pleasured himself.

.

After leaving the beach, Dick spent a good part of the rest of his day listening to Madison air her grievances about Lilly Kane and all the ways Lilly was ruining her. Once again, he wasn't sure whether they were on or off, but he was sick of Madison griping about Lilly trying to steal her position as ruler of the 09ers.

He let her talk until she tired herself out. He himself was already tired long before she started talking.

He reminisced about the Madison he crushed on in the sixth grade. He wondered where she went and why she changed. He often thought about this when he was with Madison, but he hadn't yet voiced it. Not to her anyway.

While she talked about how she was going to make Lilly pay for her insults that day, Dick comforted himself by thinking back to the time Madison had befriended the girl with the weird hair who wasn't an 09er. She was so kindhearted then. Dick saw the way she looked at Madison when Madison complimented her and invited her over to play, as if Madison were her personal savior. The girl she saved was cute, too, he remembered. Her hair matched the purple decals on his surfboard.

.

From inside the pool house bedroom, Lilly heard voices coming from the outside.

Looking down, she panted, "What do you say, lover? Think I should hide? Or give them a show?"

"Fuck," he grunted. "Off! It's my idiot son." He roughly pushed her off and pulled her into the bathroom by her arm.

Lilly airily stated, "I wouldn't mind if he joined us."

He tossed her skimpy clothes and bag at her. "Shut up and stay quiet."

"Whatever you say, lover." She blew him a kiss.

He was rough, thinking he had power over her. But, she didn't mind. In fact, she liked it. She knew she had the upper hand.

Aaron quickly turned on the shower and rinsed himself. She giggled quietly, watching him put on a robe and pretend to just be getting out of the shower.

Listening, she picked out a distinctly female voice and narrowed her eyes. Veronica, she thought, growling. She was supposed to be out on one of her sickeningly sweet father-daughter days. _Not_ with Logan.

She was mildly amused though. Veronica was getting better at lying; which, in the overall scheme of things, was a good thing. It meant that Lilly's lessons were working. It meant her plan was working.

She heard Logan say that he'd be out with Veronica and would come back late.

Spitefully putting an end to their plans, she pulled out her cell phone and sent a text to Veronica.

.

"Gee, Dad. What're you doing here?"

He spotted the rumpled sheets. He knew his mother was at a charity function tonight. His whore must be hidden somewhere. He stepped in front of Veronica, shielding her view. He wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

"Logan," he greeted. "I was just finishing up a swim. Who's your friend?"

Veronica felt a chill go up her spine. Something was wrong with this scene. Still, she stepped out from behind Logan and said, "Hi, Mr. Echolls. I'm Veronica. It's nice to finally meet you. Logan told me you'd been away promoting your new movie."

"The pleasure's all mine, Veronica. I just got back a few days ago. And please. Call me Aaron. 'Mr. Echolls' makes me sound so old. What are you kids up to?"

With faked pep, he said, "We were on our way out to get ice cream. Do you want some? No? I know, maybe mom would. You remember her, right? Your wife?" He glared at his father.

Aaron's jaw muscle twitched, "Your mother's in LA for the Heart Healthy function. And I hate to be rude, but it's hardly appropriate for me to be entertaining guests in a robe. So, if you don't mind taking Veronica elsewhere?"

"Gladly."

"Goodnight, Veronica. I'm sure I'll be seeing more of you soon."

Not if he could help it, thought Logan. He put an arm around Veronica and led her to the main house and into his room. It was one of the few rooms not covered with Aaron Echolls paraphernalia.

"You can shower first."

"Thanks." She stepped into his adjoining bathroom and locked the door. She bit her lip, debating whether or not to ask him. But, she had to say it. While playing poker with Cliff McCormack, the county's if-you-cannot-afford-an-attorney attorney, Veronica was educated on how to spot an adulterer among other things. Aaron had red flags all over himself and the pool house. "Hey, Logan?"

Through the door, he answered, "Yeah?"

"I—you—you know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Yeah…" Logan panicked. After meeting Aaron once, she couldn't have figured it out already, could she? He was careful to hide his bruises and welts; he kept his bandages hidden under layers of clothing.

"Like, maybe. Your dad and… your mom? It's none of my business, but. If you want to talk about it… I'm here."

He let out a sigh of relief and went rigid once more. "You're sticking your nose where it doesn't belong, Ronnie."

"Maybe. But I _am_ here for you."

"I know," he said. He hesitated before saying, "You know I'm here for you, too, right? You can talk to me about anything."

"I know," she stated melancholy. She assumed he had figured out a few of her secrets after spending so much time at her house. But, she didn't want to talk about it now.

She turned on the shower and let the hot water wash away the skeevy feeling she got from Logan's father. She shuddered, thinking back to how Aaron's eyes roamed over her, and scrubbed harder.

She opened the door, steam billowing out after her.

"Shower's all yours."

"Thanks. I'll be right out."

"No rush. It'll give me time to trash your room."

"If you wanted to mess up my room. Might I suggest a two-person activity?" he said, keeping things light.

"Denied," she laughed; still pleasantly surprised that he reverted back to how he usually acted around her after doing whatever he was doing the first few weeks of school.

She flopped down onto his bed and laid on her stomach, checking her phone for messages. She read Lilly's text and frowned. Lilly said she was having an emergency and needed her.

Veronica fidgeted with the phone in her hands. Lilly was prone to dramatics; she doubted that she was in a real emergency… but, still. She said she needed her. She'd have to tell Logan to drop her off at the home.

Logan finished his shower and saw her on his bed playing with her phone. He sat down next to her, leaning on his elbow. "A hot blonde in my bed. Can't say I saw my day ending like this."

"Shh," she demanded. She stared at her phone contemplatively.

"You have to use your fingers," he pointed out.

"Excuse me?" she asked, wide eyed.

"To use your phone. Who're you texting?" he laughed.

Calmly, she answered, "No one. Yet."

"Yet?"

She bit her bottom lip. "It's Lilly. She wants me to come over. I'm thinking about what to reply."

"A quick 'no' should suffice."

"She says it's an emergency," Veronica explained.

"Of course it is. Did she break a nail?"

"Stop. It could be serious," Veronica stated. "You need to drop me off at my house."

"Well, when you ask so nicely, how can I refuse?"

.

Her mother had, surprisingly, greeted her at the door and was in the middle of preparing dinner. They had a decent conversation, too. She asked Veronica a lot of questions about her friends, particularly Lilly and Duncan. Her mother wasn't interested in her friends before, so it stunned Veronica. She was usually more interested in how well she was doing in school compared to everyone else. She even seemed pleased that they were close. Somewhat smug. The entire scene was slightly bizarre.

After promising to talk more when she got back, Veronica hurried away. What once was a normal scene was odd for Veronica. Her mother was acting as if the past few months hadn't happened.

Still a little bewildered from her conversation with her mother, Veronica drove up the long driveway of the Kane estate and parked on the side of the house, near the front door.

Lilly wasn't picking up her phone, so she rang the doorbell, hoping a housekeeper would recognize her and let her in.

A familiar figure opened the door, but it wasn't a housekeeper.

"Mrs. Kane. Hi. I was looking for Lilly," she said quickly. Mrs. Kane did not like her.

"Lilly isn't here."

"Well," she stuttered. "She texted me saying that it was an emergency. Do you mind if I wait in her room?"

"Do _I_ mind?" she smirked. "There are a lot of things I mind. That would be one of them. I'll tell Lilly to call you back when she comes home."

"But—"

"Goodbye, Veronica."

"Please, Mrs. Kane. I'll only be in her room."

"I'm sorry, Veronica. I cannot let you do that."

"But I really think—"

"Celeste? Who's at the door?" asked a male voice from further inside the house.

"Just one of Lilly's friends. They were just about to leave." She tried to close the door.

He appeared behind his wife and opened the door wider. His eyes lit up. "Veronica. What a wonderful surprise." He went to hug her.

Mr. Kane usually hugged her whenever he saw her, but she usually felt too awkward to sincerely return them. This time, she was relieved to see him, so she hugged him back gratefully. Mr. Kane would let her in. "Hi, Mr. Kane. Sorry to disturb you, but Lilly wanted me to meet her here."

"Well, come on in," he said, welcoming her into their foyer. "I'm sure Lilly won't mind if you waited for her in her room."

"Jake, I don't think—"

"Nonsense, dear. Veronica is a close friend of Lilly's."

"Fine," she muttered. She turned sharply and walked away.

Ignoring his wife's abrupt departure, Jake jokingly asked, "So, what trouble are you and Lilly cooking up tonight?"

"Oh, no trouble, sir. Lilly just called me over to talk, I think."

"You two _are_ really close aren't you?"

"Yes, sir," she said politely.

"I'm really glad you two get along so well."

"So am I." She stood uncomfortably in the foyer. "Do you mind if I head up to her room now?"

"Of course. You're good for her, Veronica."

Perplexed at his statement, Veronica replied, "Thanks. Lilly's good for me, too."

He frowned, and then tightly wrapped his arms around her once more. "It was good seeing you."

.

This was the scene that Lilly had walked in on, and she seethed. It wasn't enough that Veronica had the perfect father, she had to steal hers too?

Lilly could remember four times her father hugged her. Once when she scraped her knee, learning how to ride her bike from the gardener. Once before their chauffeur dropped her off for her first day of kindergarten. Another time when she was eight and came home after winning a local singing contest. And the last time was before her middle school graduation ceremony, where he left before it even began to go on a business trip in San Diego.

Four fucking times. There were orphans that received more hugs from their father than her.

"It was good seeing you, too, daddy. Bye now," Lilly said briskly. She walked purposefully past her father, pulling Veronica from her father's hold and led her to her room.

Lilly slammed the door shut and sat on her bed, silent.

The only sounds heard were of running water from the next room. Someone was taking a shower. Duncan must have gotten home already. Veronica hoped that he wouldn't accidentally tell Lilly where she really was.

She didn't like lying to Lilly, but she didn't think she could spend another day just shopping with Pam or whichever 09er girls happened to come along, too. She also thought that coming along with Logan would ease Logan's worry. He had become increasingly concerned about her behavior and had not-so-subtly referred to her as a Lilly clone more than once since Dick's party.

"You have to spend the night," she demanded.

Veronica nodded obediently, "Of course."

.

Celeste and Jake were in Jake's study. Jake wanted to inform Veronica's parents on her whereabouts. He insisted it was because he didn't want them to worry. She knew better. Keith Mars wouldn't be home yet, that left only one other person to pick up the phone.

"It's no trouble, Lianne. We love having Veronica here. Goodbye."

There was a pause and he smiled before hanging up.

She could slap him.

.

"Bye Jake." She whispered, "Love you."

She felt him smile through the phone before they hung up.

Jake called to tell her about Veronica spending the night at their house to help Lilly with her homework.

Lianne was genuinely happy that Jake was happy his children were getting along. But she couldn't help but smirk over the salad she was preparing.

Seeing how horribly Lilly had turned out, especially compared to Veronica, she felt like she had beaten Celeste. From the other gossiping parents at Neptune High, Lianne had heard rumors about Lilly's promiscuity and troubles. She thanked God that Veronica hadn't turned out that way. She was perfect.

It was a good thing Veronica would be staying over with Lilly tonight, she thought absentmindedly. Keith had found out about her water bottles filled with vodka. The dinner she was currently preparing was meant to be a prop in her apology for later that night when Keith would come home. She thought she had been so clever, too. She'd hide them better next time.

Nevertheless, she was certain there would be yelling. Dinner or not. And, it wouldn't do to have Veronica know about her parents fighting. She read that parents who fought were more likely to raise troubled teens. So, it wouldn't do at all. Not if she wanted Veronica to stay perfect and superior to Lilly.

So long as Veronica was perfect, Jake's decision to leave Celeste would be that much easier.

She hummed as she drizzled dressing over the salad, thinking about her own eventual departure from Keith.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

For those who missed my update to the last chapter, I said that I left out the part where Keith got a paternity test done _**secretly**_. My bad.

This is what Logan said in French: _Si tu dois demander_ – If you have to ask. And Veronica responds: _Tu ne m'aides pas_ - You're not helping. And _merci _means thanks. Or so says Google translate and my limited knowledge of French.

To **MSVasco**: This may head into a dangerous spoiler zone, but I can't help myself. So, I'll just say that you might regret wanting with him Meg or someone else. I might have Lilly and Veronica's relationship parallel something like Mac and Madison's relationship. Which doesn't mean much for you guys until I get there. ^^ And, yes. Death to Duncan! But not until he serves my purposes haha. To **JeniLyn2000**: Yep. Duncan switches from Lilly to Veronica because Veronica started to resemble Lilly. He forces himself to choose Veronica because he thinks Lilly is his sister. Eek, I want to give away so many spoilers. But since you spotted Logan's abuse correctly, I'll give that to you. It won't be as heavily focused on though. And, yeah… I really can't seem to make him too jaded. To **SilverLining2k6**: Thanks for the advice about the tenses! I have a real problem with that. I've tried my best re-editing things though. ^^ You have no idea how right you are about the Kanes messing ish up haha.

Fun fact: I couldn't make the scene with Duncan in the shower more graphic because I kept feeling disgusted…

Possible spoilers for next chapter: That was all I planned to write about Veronica's sophomore year at school with the exception of the briefest mention of finals to come next chapter. Then, it's summertime "fun" for the gang. And… wouldn't you know it? Shelly Pomroy throws a party.

I'm updating as fast as I can now because. Fuck. I am sooo screwed. I probably won't touch this again for months when shit hits the fan. Hopefully I can, but I'm being realistic. Also, some of you may have noticed that I'm now responding to questions/concerns people have in reviews with the 'reply' button thing. I'm doing that because I don't want them to wait until the next chapter to get an answer. Also, they deserve to have answers/semi-spoilers before others since they took the time to review and I appreciate it. Of course, I can't give away everything, but I like to hint or point people in the right direction. ^^ That's not to say I don't appreciate the reviews I don't reply to. I really do; since all the reviews help encourage me to write. However, I didn't want to spam them with my pitiful thanks haha.

Feedback lets me know if I'm doing things right or wrong and what to fix; so please leave some when you can. _Merci_!


	5. Chapter 5

**King of Mars**

A/N: To make a new person, you have to destroy the old one. Even if you're rebuilding using the same material, at least you can give yourself a tougher shell. If I could write it so that Veronica was saved but still turn into a hardass, I would. But I can't. Sorry and enjoy.

Chapter 5

.

"Tell me exactly when I'm going to use all this because I can't figure it out." Dick stared at his Algebra II/Trigonometry book.

Veronica shuffled through her notes to find the page that would help Dick the most. "I'd say hopefully never, but that'd just bring back too much déjà vu from last year."

Dick replied, "Nu-uh. We're studying a different type of math."

"It's still math. The only thing that's really different is him." She pointed to the sullen teen next to her.

Logan tossed his pen at his book, "I didn't choose to be here."

Veronica smiled mischievously, "You didn't have to say yes."

"You didn't have to tilt your head at me."

"Would you have said yes otherwise?"

"No chance in hell."

"Then you left me no choice."

His head dropped into his hands. He sulked. "I don't get why I'm here. I can pass on my own."

"We're supporting Dick. And it wouldn't hurt you to try raising your grades, too."

"That's where you're wrong." His words muffled through his hands.

She furrowed her brow in concern. "You don't think you can raise your grades?"

"Never," he stated firmly, "Underestimate the extent of my mathematical prowess. I meant you were wrong about the part where you said it wouldn't hurt."

"I'm with Logan," Dick said. "Can't we make this fun?"

"Both of you are such babies. Math is just something you just have to do. It doesn't have to be fun. If it helps, just lie back and think of England."

"Is that something our future valedictorian should be saying?"

"Shh! Don't jinx me."

"As if you don't already have it in the bag."

"Flattery won't get you out of this, Echolls."

"Golly, Veronica. Now why would I want to leave when you're here?"

"Can you guys stop flirting for two seconds to help _me_? I actually need this."

Veronica's cheeks pinked at his accusation. "We're not flirting."

"Yeah, if we were flirting, I would've won by now."

"How exactly do you win at flirting?" Veronica queried. She was very interested to know.

"Maybe I'll let you find out firsthand someday." He winked. This wasn't crossing the line at all, he thought derisively. Where was Duncan? He needed Duncan to keep him in line. Changing the subject, he quickly asked, "What problem are you stuck on?"

"Fifty-nine. I'm never going to finish all these review problems," Dick mumbled.

"You're doing fine. Veronica and I are only on sixty-eight."

"But you guys spend half the time flirting."

"We're _not _flirting," Veronica repeated. She _wished_ he was genuinely flirting with her.

"Whatever. Just show me how to do it."

"Which part are you stuck on?"

"Solving for x."

Dryly, she replied, "Really."

"I really can't remember anything from that part!" Dick cried desperately.

"Sorry," she leaned closer to look at the problem he was on. "Here. When you're solving for x algebraically with log functions, start with that arrow thing Mr. Heinrich taught us. Draw an arrow from the subscript next to the log to the other side of the equation to show what belongs where. And set it up so that whatever's in the subscript to the power of the other side of the equation is equal to whatever you're taking the log of."

"Were you even speaking English?"

Logan casually interjected, "You know, I heard a rumor about Mr. Heinrich. Someone saw his profile on Neptune's Swingles site. His interests included hot tubbing with 'special friends' and 'sensual' charades."

"You're not helping."

Dick jotted down a note to check the Swingles site later. "Speak for yourself. I might need to blackmail him to ace this."

Veronica gave up. "How do you even hear this stuff?"

"I'm a good listener."

"Is that on _your_ Swingles profile?"

"Off topic again. Ronnie, is this how you do it?" He shoved his paper in front of her face.

Leaning back slightly to read it, she excitedly exclaimed, "Yep! See, Dick? We'll make a scholar out of you yet."

He raised his arms in triumph. "All right! You better get your ass ready when I get that A."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Why does your ass have to be ready when he gets an A? God, I hope it's not how it sounds," he joked.

"No! Logan! That's disgusting. He meant it figuratively. We made another bet."

"This'll be good. What do you have to do if he gets an A?"

Veronica didn't answer, but Dick did. "For the entire summer, she has to play video games with us. I get to choose the times and the games. No chickening out either."

Logan was confused. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"That's because you've never seen me play. And there was a good reason for that."

Dick stated, "It's a thing of beauty when we get to see Veronica Mars finally fail at something."

"I own you in Mario Kart."

"That's one game."

"The only one that matters," she shot back.

Cassidy silently watched his older brother and friends not study. His brother was right. Things were very different from last year. With Lilly's friendship, Veronica was included as part of the 09er group and thus hung out with him and Dick more than she used to. Dick was happy having Veronica around them more, but Cassidy was apprehensive about the entire thing.

He liked Veronica, but the price of being able to see her more was too high. Cassidy noticed that Veronica changed. Everyone had; it was hard not to.

Depending on how you viewed it, the changes could be argued as either good or bad. For Cassidy, the changes were bad. And, he knew that Logan didn't take the change well either. They had discussed it at length after a particularly rowdy party where they apprehended a drunk senior from Pan High who was accosting Veronica. Veronica claimed she was safe because Lilly was taking care of her, but they took her home anyway. They didn't tell her that Lilly had left an hour before. They didn't bother since she never listened.

They were worried about her. They wouldn't always be around to keep an eye on her. She might end up drinking too much, with the wrong people, or at the wrong place. She could really hurt herself. All because she was doing what Lilly wanted her to.

Cassidy hoped that Veronica's personality was strong enough to withstand this phase she had with Lilly. Veronica was a smart girl; Cassidy knew that she'd see how manipulative Lilly was eventually and stay far away. He just wished it would be soon. Thank God he never had to spend that much time with Lilly. He could understand the fascination with Lilly, he really could. But, it was scary to see the people around her be under her spell.

It was funny, though. He remembered Veronica telling him that Lilly was just a spoiled rich girl who couldn't handle a soccer ball. He had no idea how they became friends after that. Though, 'friends' wasn't the term he'd use to describe their relationship either. It was more of a pet and master dynamic between the two of them. Veronica just refused to see it like it was.

Cassidy also didn't think Veronica knew just how much the other 09er girls hated her. When Veronica wasn't part of their group, the 09er girls usually ignored her. But after seeing how Veronica held the attention and friendship of a number of people from the upper tier of the 09ers, they were downright vicious. Or, as vicious as teenage girls could be. The occasional missing book or gym clothes. Vandalized locker. 'Accidental' trips or shoves in the hall. Insults behind her back and in front. And, Veronica put up with it all.

That, too, was troubling for Cassidy to see. Veronica was _putting up with it_. She didn't fight back anymore. She didn't use her caustic wit against them. She didn't put them in their place. She said she was taking the high road and that her father taught her better, but Cassidy was too smart to fall for that.

It wasn't that she wouldn't fight. It was that she couldn't. Lilly had brainwashed Veronica into a mindless copy of herself. She was missing the spark that drew him and everyone around her to her. Lilly had stolen it from her.

Fortunately, the further Lilly was from Veronica, the further Veronica reverted back to who she was before. Charmingly kindhearted and vibrantly independent. He admired that in her and was captivated by it.

And, Cassidy feared that Lilly would do something that would take that away from her completely.

.

He didn't know how she was doing it. It was like flipping a switch. Flip it, and she was his Veronica. Flip it again, and she was Lilly's.

Lilly had wheedled her way into Veronica's mind somehow and had taken residence. Regardless, their most recent and thankfully last study session let him know that his Veronica was still there. Though, he would check and check again to reassure himself.

It had been a grueling day for Logan's self-control. Duncan's mother insisted that Duncan study alone, causing him to miss the study session. Therefore, he wasn't there to stop him from shamelessly flirting with Veronica. Not that he was admitting to flirting with her.

Stepping into the cold shower, Logan reminded himself of his promise to never make a move on her. But, damn it if Duncan wasn't making it any easier on him. If Veronica officially held the title of his best friend's girlfriend, it would help him repress his emotions. As it was, Duncan wasn't very successful with winning her over. And, Logan was painfully aware of how his friend had been trying to no avail.

Over the course of the past year, they hadn't gotten closer at all. But, something must have happened within the past month because Logan noticed that Duncan stopped trying. It couldn't have been something that happened between them either, Veronica would have told him.

Logan had hoped that that meant that he was losing his interest and Veronica would no longer be off limits soon, but he would occasionally catch Duncan staring at her. The staring was unusual, but he was in no position to judge. Logan found himself staring more than once, too. So, if Duncan was staring at her for the same reasons Logan was, Duncan definitely wasn't over her.

.

Sometimes Veronica felt like she was being watched. No, _stared_ at. She felt it now, hunching over her math final.

She looked to her immediate right. Wishful thinking.

Logan was concentrating on his test like she should have been. He was scribbling something furiously on his extra scratch paper. Veronica noticed it fall over the edge of his desk and land next to her feet. She surreptitiously picked it up for him, careful to not make it look like they were cheating. She almost handed it back to him until she saw her name written in his characteristic scrawl among all the crossed out equations. Luckily, Veronica was accustomed to his writing and recognized her name immediately. They often wrote notes to each other in class, so she was used to it. But, passing notes during a test was new.

Sliding the scratch paper beneath her test, she pretended to focus on her test. Slyly, she read it.

_Veronica,_

_I'll let you ogle me all you want later, but I can't concentrate with you staring at me right now.  
_

_XXX,  
Logan._

She stifled her laughter; it would only further inflate his ego.

Glancing back at him, she saw his mock-scandalized expression and rolled her eyes in response. Turning her attention back to her own desk, she heard him laugh smugly to himself. Punk.

Tucking the scrap of paper into her jean pocket, she answered a few more questions before she got that feeling again. It was definitely coming from the right of her. She chanced looking behind Logan.

Meeting his eyes, she froze. She offered Duncan a tight smile, but he had already looked away as if he hadn't just been caught.

These incidents, among other things, made Veronica very uncomfortable around the Kane heir. However, she often found herself in his company because he was Logan's best friend and Lilly's brother. He was her friend, too, but that didn't make things any less uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she didn't pay much attention to the varied occurrences until they became impossible to ignore. He was always so _intense_. Any day now, she expected Duncan to approach her with either a confession of love or greet her with a rope and some duct tape.

She definitely didn't think she could talk to Lilly about it either. He was her _brother_. So, it became one of the rare secrets she kept from her friend, which brought the grand total to two.

The more she debated about whether or not to talk to Lilly about her brother, the more Veronica thought about her friend's recent odd behavior. She didn't know what had gotten into her, but Lilly seemed to have been reverting back to the girl she had first seen the past summer. The other side of Lilly appeared less and less. And, Lilly no longer treated Veronica with kindness or special care.

Veronica could confidently recall certain times when she was being downright catty to her, too. And when Veronica stepped out from Lilly's shadows, Lilly would push her right back in. She admitted that she often bent to Lilly's will, but she couldn't help it. There was just something about her. It reminded her of the pull she felt with Logan. Both felt dangerous. But, whereas she knew she was safe with Logan, she felt uneasy with all the power Lilly wielded over her. When did that happen?

She was doing all these things she never would have done before because Lilly told her to. Hell, she was almost sexually assaulted at a party were it not for Cassidy and Logan saving her in time. She told them Lilly would've protected her, but her words sounded automatic and hollow to her own ears.

Lilly never apologized for leaving her that night either or any other nights for that matter. However, she did congratulate Veronica for effectively flirting with her would-be assailant and getting Logan's attention. It was pathetic and stupid of Veronica, but that was all she needed to say to get her to become submissive once more. Logan was her kryptonite, and Lilly was her only hope. She needed her.

For the past year, Veronica had been taking Lilly's advice on becoming Logan's girlfriend. But, he was still treating her like one of the guys. She liked to think that his flirty behavior meant that she was making progress, but he never acted beyond flirting. So, she concluded that that was just how Logan was to all girls. Lilly assured her these things took time, and Veronica naively believed her. But she questioned if she'd ever be successful every time new rumors about Logan's latest conquest buzzed through the campus and reached her ears.

They were infrequent, never lasted more than a week, and Logan never talked to her about them. Sometimes, she wouldn't even find out that Logan was dating until they were already over. So naturally, the entire thing bothered her to pieces.

In the corner of her mind, she liked to think that her frequent but 'totally on accident but now that she had him would he mind helping her with this one problem' calls at night put a premature end to the dates he never told her about. It wouldn't be her fault if he chose to talk to her rather than whichever other girl he was entertaining at the time, she thought.

She felt something light brush against her thigh before hitting the floor. It was another piece of scratch paper. She looked over at Logan who was looking _too_ innocent.

_V,_

_Just thought I'd let you know that you have a deliciously evil smile on. Should I be worried for my virtue?_

_Eagerly awaiting an affirmative,  
Logan_

She snorted in amusement, drawing shushes and a glare from her teacher. Ducking her head down, she pocketed the paper and stuffed it into the same pocket as the previous note. Stupid Logan. Didn't he know how she felt about him? He shouldn't be torturing her with teasing notes that gave nothing but false hope.

She felt eyes suddenly bore into her again, and her spine stiffened. She didn't dare look back this time. Damn, was he _intense_.

.

She threw the blue miniskirt down in frustration. But, it wasn't its fault that her parents had started talking about Cindy again. She wanted to cry, but it'd only mess up her makeup. Bringing up Cindy only brought forth bad feelings. It had been four years since her parents last discussed it. A few days since she last thought about it. And, over sixteen years and counting with no contact from her biological parents. They probably weren't even considering it.

Why did she think her biological parents weren't thinking about her? Because the entire family was currently out camping. How. Fucking. Cute. And perfect. They did it every year when school ended. _They_ certainly weren't having second thoughts about giving her up or thinking about it being time to finally develop a relationship with her when they were having _so much fucking fun _with her replacement. No, that was just _her_ parents.

Did it make any sense? No. In comparison, Madison was better. Madison was prettier. Madison was more popular. Madison was on cheer. Madison was on student council. Madison would totally own that bitch in a fight, and she was just itching for a good one. Ever since Lilly Kane waltzed into town and took Madison's position as queen, Madison had been spitting fire. Unfortunately, she couldn't direct any of it towards Lilly. Not when Lilly had threatened her parents—the ones who had raised her. She was forced to abdicate her throne and step aside.

The Sinclairs made their fortune investing in Kane Software. That was true. But they had since expanded their stock portfolio. And although their fortune was nowhere near the size of the Kane fortune, the Sinclairs lived very comfortably and could continue to live off their other investments should _something_ happen to sever their involvement with Kane Software.

Thus, it wasn't what Lilly Kane might do to her family financially that made her step aside; it was what she could do to her family socially. Blacklisted from every event, every charity, every function, every luncheon, every_thing_ that was rightly where they belonged.

She had seen it happen to Cora Briggs and her family.

One minute, Mrs. Briggs was having tea with the typical ladies who lunched at the Neptune Country Club. The next, she was _persona non grata_. Mr. Briggs and Associates became just Mr. Briggs. And Cora had only herself to blame. Rumor had it that Lilly had run into Cora wearing the same leather jacket one day and heavily implied that it would be smart to take it off lest something bad happen. At the time, it had only been a few weeks into Lilly's arrival and word of the young Kane's power had yet to reach everyone's ears. So naturally, Cora refused. The resulting display made it clear to everyone just who was in charge. You don't piss off the people with the most money after all.

So, she ignored the fact that she didn't want to be completely barred from her own social circle either and conceded defeat for her family's sake. Fake or not, the Sinclairs had taken care of Madison. It would kill her to see them rejected from their positions in society just because she wouldn't give up her own. She wasn't so heartless.

Madison knew just how important Neptune's high society was to both of her parents. With money to burn, they kept busy doing other things. Her mother and father loved being on the countless committees and overseeing the many happenings around town. They even founded their own charity to help the homeless. They sacrificed a lot of their time building up their reputation and the prestige of the Sinclair family name in Neptune. And, they never said it, but she liked to imagine that they built it up for her to be able to hold her head up high as a Sinclair.

Picking up the pair of dark wash jeans she had tossed onto her luxuriously carpeted floor a half hour ago, Madison now only needed to decide on a top to wear to Shelly's party tonight.

.

Lilly was lying haphazardly across her bed. She hadn't even started to think about what to wear to Shelly's party. They were bound to end up late, but she didn't care. When had she ever?

She heard her bathroom door open and tilted her head up a fraction to see Veronica walk out wearing a white dress. She was firm in her wardrobe choice, and Lilly didn't have the patience to persuade her otherwise. At this point, Lilly was bored of her and was growing restless. The past ten months were difficult. And, Lilly had some successes, but she hadn't completely tainted Veronica. She wasn't as nearly as far down the path of corruption as Lilly would've liked. And, majority opinion still considered her perfect and innocent, especially compared to her schoolmates.

However, all throughout the past school year, Lilly had been discretely planting ideas into their peers' heads about her father's and practically everyone else's precious Veronica. And tonight, she planned to make her grand play. Lilly would convince them that Veronica had them tricked.

_No, Veronica never dated Logan. But Lilly _did_ see them together a lot when Logan was supposed to be with Ashley._

_Yes, Veronica hung out with Dick a lot. No, Lilly didn't know why Dick and Madison broke up so often, but why does Madison hate Veronica so much__?_

_Yes, Veronica slept over at Lilly's a lot. But, it's just the weirdest thing, a few times when Lilly woke up in the middle of the night, Veronica was missing._

_No, Veronica was definitely not a lightweight. She just drank a lot before coming to parties. Why?_

_Yes, Veronica's grades are always good. Lilly was surprised too since she never saw her study for anything. Then again, Veronica did say she spent a lot of time with the teachers to improve her scores._

Lilly's hand snaked under her pillow and turned the cool vial of Liquid X over in her hand. Before Veronica came over, Troy had delivered the special party favor he had gotten from Mexico. Lilly smiled knowingly as she held the vial. The Pomroy party was going to get a lot more interesting for everyone with Veronica there to provide the spectacle.

She inwardly chuckled. Honestly, Lilly was glad Veronica chose to wear white. The virginal white dress would further serve to highlight Veronica's _unacceptable _behavior at the party later.

.

Stepping through the polished gates, Veronica adjusted her black choker nervously. This would be the second time Veronica attended Shelly Pomroy's 'Kickoff to Summer' party.

The first time was after the end of sixth grade when she and Shelly were friends, before Shelly and Madison became best friends. It was the first of many boy/girl parties to come, and there were plenty of typical preteen games like Truth or Dare and Spin the Bottle.

That party from her memories was nothing like what she saw now.

When Lilly had finally decided it was time for them to show up, the party was in full swing. Alcohol was distributed generously among the underage teenagers, a cup in every hand. Teenagers in various states of undress lined the pool and filled the jacuzzi. Beer pong tables were set up beside the lounge chairs.

Getting to this party was a simple task for her now. The routine was old hat. Veronica just used the stock excuse of having a sleepover at Lilly's house to stay out late. Unfortunately, she knew full well that her father and his deputies could show up at any moment and bust up the party, but she risked it anyway. Lilly would not be pleased if she didn't come; though, at this particular moment, she found herself wondering why she cared. It was a rare thought for Veronica. She usually never questioned Lilly or her motives nowadays.

Lilly was like a drug. Veronica didn't want it, said no at first, but once she got a hit, she stayed for more. Then, spotting him behind the bar, she remembered the other reason why she was taking the risk of being grounded until she was a senior citizen. Lilly had hinted that something interesting was going to happen at this party and that Veronica was going to have a lot of fun. Veronica hoped that Lilly's secret involved miraculously getting her and Logan together, but Lilly never confessed to anything.

If Logan thought she was one of the boys, maybe whatever Lilly had planned for her would change that.

.

Situated behind the bar and playing bartender, Logan spotted Veronica arriving with Lilly. He waved them over, mostly to keep an eye on Veronica.

He poured a shot of vodka for Lilly and mixed a fruity pineapple drink for Veronica. Lilly left as soon as she got her drink and made a beeline to the group of girls seated on the lounge chairs. As he handed the drink to Veronica, he whispered, "Don't trust anyone with your drink, Mars."

Surprised, Veronica uneasily joked, "Not even you?" She pointed at the red plastic cup in her hand.

"Just. Keep an eye out, okay? I heard some people talking about having some drugs with them, and people tend to overdo it after finals. Trust me."

"I'll be careful. Promise."

The two shared a smile before Lilly had called Veronica away to say hi to their friends. He gave her a farewell salute.

The girls Lilly had called her over to sit with were really just Lilly's friends, though. They were Veronica's friends through association. Real friends don't graffiti your lockers with 'slut'.

She took a sip of her drink. What was wrong with her?

.

Duncan had also been at the bar, talking to the other guys and keeping Logan company.

He knew Lilly was up to something. He didn't know what, but he recognized the signs. She was a little too gleeful. The glint in her eyes a few degrees more devious than usual. She had been keeping a low profile, too. Only the occasional rumor about her hooking up with some guy or being seen in odd places. She definitely was up to something.

He bitterly resigned himself to the fact that neither Lilly nor Veronica greeted him at the bar. He wondered if they even noticed him. He certainly noticed them from the moment they walked in.

Veronica was in an eye catching white dress with twin spaghetti straps holding it up. It flared past the slim waist he ached to hold and ended just above her knees, leaving her shapely calves at the mercy of his hungry eyes. Duncan was surprised that Lilly had let her even wear it. It was too tame to gain Lilly's approval. It wasn't her taste.

Case in point, Lilly herself was wearing a tight champagne-colored bandage dress. It was meant to be a statement, declaring to all others that she was far superior.

Both were indeed beautiful, he thought. But, it was his ill fate that he was not allowed to touch either one.

Approximately two months ago, he had first approached his father asking for help with Veronica. After a heated shouting match, Duncan collapsed in defeat when his father revealed that Veronica was his half sister.

.

Lilly waited for Veronica to finish her drink, barely touched with alcohol. Lilly knew that Logan disliked it when Veronica drank and always mixed her drinks with only the slightest bit of alcohol. His overprotective babying of Veronica disgusted her. Too bad he couldn't force Lilly to do the same.

Veronica set her empty cup down, and Lilly eagerly jumped up and offered to get her another drink. A real drink.

On her way back with a rum and coke in each hand for herself and Veronica, she dropped in a dose of rohypnol into the cup on the right.

Her mouth curled upward, rejoicing in Veronica's imbibing of her concoction.

Cheers, Veronica Mars.

.

Veronica eyed Lilly's proffered cup warily but hesitantly took it anyway. Logan's warning rang loudly through her ears. Shaking her head clear of her suspicions, she took a long drink from it and flashed a bright smile that Lilly returned. She was being ridiculous. She could trust Lilly.

Feeling the carbonated bubbles fizzle on her tongue, she thought the drink tasted a little odd. But, she had nothing to compare it to. She had never had a rum and coke before since Logan and Dick usually made or ordered fruity drinks for her. She also had a feeling that they made sure drinks had less alcohol in them than usual, but she didn't mind. She didn't particularly enjoy drinking, and she was a lightweight. She usually only drank because Lilly expected her to.

A few more sips of her drink, and she felt her worries disappear. She couldn't even remember why she was worried. Was she even worried? She couldn't remember.

She giggled and emphatically claimed, "I _love_ this song."

.

Logan poured two rum and cokes for Lilly. Not knowing which one would end up in Veronica's hands, he made both drinks weak. Lilly can bitch at him about it later if she wanted. He didn't care. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only source of alcohol at the party, and he watched Veronica down shot after shot of whatever hard liquor Lilly put in front of her with increasing concern. Veronica had never drunk this much before.

He was heading in their direction to cut her off when Dick waylaid him. He was spectacularly smashed and apparently heartbroken. Madison had broken up with him for the umpteenth time, and he dealt with his emotions by drinking. A popular coping mechanism of choice for the elder Casablancas son.

Silently apologizing to Veronica, Logan helped Dick walk to his Xterra and drove him home. He promised to come back for her as soon as he could.

At least Veronica would be relatively safe surrounded by the other girls.

.

He was panicking. He couldn't find her anywhere, and he had a bad feeling about her disappearance.

Finding Lilly, he asked, "Where is she?"

"Where's who?" Lilly calmly replied.

"You know who. Where's Veronica?"

She shook her arm free of his grip. "I'm sure she's around here somewhere. God forbid she does something that you don't know about."

His eyes widened. When did he grab her? He tiredly said, "I can't find her. I checked everywhere, and I know you know."

"Actually, I don't. Don't _you_ know? Veronica's her own person. She doesn't have to tell me about everything she does." She casually took a drink from her cup. She was unsympathetic to his distress.

Exasperated, he exclaimed, "Don't fuck around with me, Lilly. She was with you the last time I saw her."

"Yeah, so? The last time _I_ saw her, she was all over Casey."

He growled, "You're lying."

"It's a fact. Ask anyone here. Don't take it out on me if she decided to slut it up in public."

"Shut up, Lilly," he said grimly. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"You keep thinking that. But just so you know, Casey wasn't the only guy she was with."

Before he could demand she explain herself, she bounced out of his reach. At a lost, he went in search of Casey Gant and some answers.

Casey confirmed Lilly's story. But, in the face of Logan's anger, he vehemently denied both accepting and reciprocating Veronica's advances.

Working his way through the dwindling number of party guests, Logan heard troubling recounts about what Veronica had been up to in his absence. Salt licks, excessive amounts of alcohol, suggestive dancing, and hitting on just about everyone at the party. But, not one had seen where she went.

He berated himself. He knew he shouldn't have left her when she had been drinking so much. He tried calling her multiple times throughout the night but only got her voicemail.

Placing all of the blame squarely on his shoulders, Logan spent the rest of his night searching for her. No one had seen her after her stint as their personal salt lick. That was an hour ago. Two hours ago he left with Dick. Where could she have gone in such a short span of time?

Grasping at straws, he drove to the beach and around town, hoping to find her wandering somewhere but still safe and sound. He even dropped by her house, hoping to spot her car there. It wasn't. And, he didn't want to get her in trouble by asking her parents if she was home either, so he left.

He finally surrendered to exhaustion when the creeping sunlight reached across the skies and drove home. Collapsing onto his bed, he felt anxious and like he had let her down. He hoped she was okay.

He would try again tomorrow.

.

From the time of the first drugged cup to the last, Duncan slowly contemplated his next move. This had to have been what Lilly was planning. He didn't know what would compel his sister to drug Veronica, but he saw his chance and took it.

Veronica was on a lounge chair being used as a salt lick when Duncan sprung into action. He swooped in and got her away from the other boys. Painting himself as her hero, he pushed his way through the crowd. They assumed he was carrying her to safety and resumed their other party activities.

Carrying her semi-unconscious form in his hands, he whispered softly to her, "Don't worry, Veronica. I've got you now."

He thought he heard her groan in protest, but he must have been imagining it.

"Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

Her hands clenched against his chest.

He rambled, "No? Well, you are. At first, I thought you two were just like each other, you know. That's why I liked you. But I was wrong. You're much better than Lilly. That's why I loved you. But wouldn't you know it? I was wrong _again_. You _are_ just like her. My father said you were my sister. So, I couldn't touch you either. Can you believe that?"

They were in the hallway of the main house.

"Fuck," he murmured. The room was locked and occupied by other guests. Making his way further down the hall, he found a free room. Nudging the door open wider with his foot, he carried her over the threshold and placed her gently on the bed.

"There we go," he grinned down at her. "I can't blame you, though. It's not your fault." He smoothed down her long, blonde tresses. "I can't. Would you blame me?"

He paused to see if she would answer, but she only whimpered.

"Would you, Veronica?" He cupped her face with his hand. "Would you blame me for taking what should be mine? I wouldn't normally do things this way, but this is the only way we can be together. I can't stop thinking about you."

Her hands were at his chest, futilely pushing against him. She suddenly uttered, "Duncan…?"

"I'm here, baby. You look just like an angel, you know." He shrugged off his shirt. "No, you wouldn't blame me. Even if you did, you'd forgive me, right? You're too sweet to hate me. In fact, you love me, don't you? Yeah, you do. An angel. My angel. Sweeter than Lilly."

He lifted her up slightly to unzip her dress and marveled at the pale flesh. Her skin was like velvet under the pads of his fingers.

His lips attacked her neck, and he whispered against the flesh there, "If I kiss your lips, are you going to wake up like Sleeping Beauty? If you are, I won't kiss you. I won't. No matter how much I want to. You can't wake up yet. It'll ruin everything."

He roughly pulled the bodice of her dress down, tearing the straps. Palming her breast, he felt her throat hitch under his lips. "Did you like that?"

"Stop, Duncan. No…" she said weakly.

Duncan instantly saw red and clamped his hand harshly over her mouth. "Why the fuck should I? You're mine, Veronica. Mine, no matter what."

Keeping her mouth covered, he unzipped his jeans and kicked them off angrily. His body hovered menacingly over hers.

Lowly and more calmly, he stated. "People just want to keep us apart. But, I know you want this."

She feebly whipped her head from side to side but couldn't get his hand off her mouth. He pushed his hand down harder against her face to keep her still.

"Logan doesn't deserve you."

He bunched her dress up around her waist.

Tracing the edge of her cotton underwear, he muttered, "Logan doesn't deserve this."

He tossed her underwear carelessly behind him. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. She was shaking. Her body was wracked with choking sobs.

He tried to comfort her, "Don't cry, Veronica. I know first times hurt, but I'll make you feel good."

However, his words seemed to renew her desire to struggle. She released a muffled and faint cry for help beneath his hand. But, firmly grasping her throat, he silenced her and her body stilled.

After taking what he wanted by force, he kissed her on her lips. She didn't wake up, but that's okay. He knew he wasn't her prince anyway.

.

At first, Lilly was livid when her brother rushed in to save Veronica.

But, she supposed, that was inevitable. She knew Duncan liked Veronica. Who didn't know that? Nevertheless, she got what she wanted. Veronica made a fool of herself by throwing herself at everyone and giving everyone a peep show among other things. Her pristine reputation would be no more, and no one would look at her the same way. Everyone would be eager to believe all the rumors about her and jump to their own conclusions now that there was visible evidence.

Veronica was ruined, and Lilly would never be compared to her again. Her father wouldn't dare after this. She could stop pretending to care, stop pretending to be regretful, stop pretending to repent, and stop pretending that she had a side to her that was vulnerable. Most importantly, she could stop pretending to be friends with Veronica Mars.

Lilly could continue being Lilly in peace.

Things were looking up for her.

.

There was a pounding in her head. Where was she? She couldn't remember what happened last night.

She quashed her rising panic and fought to remain calm. Remembering her father's advice, she first assessed situation. Only then could she even begin to piece together what had happened to her and what to do next.

It was very early in the morning. She was in an unfamiliar room. She was alone.

Her mind was working sluggishly. She had a headache. It wasn't a typical hangover. And, she felt sore. Particularly between her legs. Realizing the implications, she resisted her desire to hyperventilate. Though, her breaths quickened to short gasps. Her dress was ruined. Her underwear was missing.

She didn't make it off the bed before emptying her stomach off the side, gripping the adjacent nightstand to keep herself from falling. She lost what little strength she had left and fell back onto the bed. She gave into her sobs. Fuck assessing the situation. What did it matter when someone had raped her?

She lost track of time while crying in the strange bed. She wanted to stay in the bed forever but knew she had to leave in case whoever did this to her came back. Gripped with fear, she wiped her eyes of her tears and fixed her dress as best she could. She felt safer when she found her underwear and pulled it on.

Veronica quickly scanned the room. Catching sight of a few photos, she realized she was still at Shelly's house and relaxed a little. Next to the door, she spotted her purse. Her perpetrator was kind enough to carry it in with her before he violated her. How thoughtful. Checking her phone, she saw all the missed calls from Logan. She didn't want to talk to him at all. She wouldn't know what to say. So, she flung her phone back into her purse.

Thinking about how she was going to get home, she remembered Lilly. Lilly had driven them here. She pulled out her phone again and dialed her quickly, laughing hysterically. Lilly would help her.

It rang a few times before a chime informed her that someone had picked up.

"Lilly?"

"Veronica."

Yes! She thought. "Thank God, Lilly. I need your help."

There was silence from the other end, and Veronica thought the call had disconnected until she heard Lilly laugh boisterously. Lilly eventually replied, "And why should I help you?"

"What are you talking about, Lilly? Stop playing games. I'm really scared." She started crying again into her phone.

"I'm not playing, _Veronica_."

A chill ran down her spine, and she stopped crying. "Lilly," she said slowly, "We're friends. Why are you acting like this?"

Bluntly, she revealed, "I was never your friend, Veronica. I was pretending."

"You're not making any sense."

"I'm making perfect sense. I used you. I wanted to ruin you. And now I have, so I'm done with you. Get it yet?"

"No... Lilly…"

"Figures you wouldn't. But hey, tell you what. I'll do whatever you were going to ask if you tell me how it feels to wake up after taking Liquid X. I've never tried it, but I know you have. I made sure of it. No answer? Oh, well. You try to be nice to people, but sometimes they're too stupid to even help themselves."

Lilly hung up.

Veronica was speechless. She had been drugged. Lilly drugged her. God, she needed to know what she did last night. But, that would have to be for later. She had to get home now.

It was very early in the morning. The sun was just barely visible above the horizon. She didn't want anyone to see her, and she especially didn't want to see them either. So, she resolutely began her walk home using the back routes, making a note to drop by the clinic later.

On the walk home, she thought of all the possible reasons for Lilly going to such elaborate lengths to hurt her, but she couldn't come up with anything. What would compel Lilly to cause her so much pain? Was the rape planned, too? Or was it just a bonus in the sick game she played with Veronica?

She solemnly thought about what she should do about her rape. She definitely didn't want to report it. Her father would find out, and she never wanted that to happen. She knew that reporting it and getting a rape kit done would get her closer to finding her rapist, but she was afraid. More than anything, she was afraid of her father's reaction. She didn't know exactly how he'd react. However, at the very least, it would crush him. He would blame himself for failing her. She didn't want that. So, she foolishly decided that no one else needed to know what happened to her. It would be between her and her rapist, and she doubted that he was going to fess up any time soon.

Her eyes watered at the sight of her house. Mentally and physically tired, she quietly entered and made her way up to her room. She slowly peeled off her clothes, careful not to put pressure on any of her bruises.

Standing naked in her bathroom, she got her first look at herself. There was some bruising around her neck. Her mascara was running, her lipstick and makeup smeared across her face. Her hair was in tangles. They were mocking reminders of what had transpired. The rest of her body was littered with bruises, too. She gagged at the finger shaped bruises around her knees and on her hips.

Washing her face clean, she gripped the sink and straightened her back. Her legs were unsteady, but she held herself firm against the sink. After taking a deep breath, she left to dress herself in her most comfortable sweats.

Fully clothed, she then set about purging her existence of Lilly's influence. First, she went through her closet. She couldn't go back to the yellow cotton of a year ago and pretend that nothing happened, but she wanted to burn the red satin that reeked of Lilly. With more force than necessary, she pulled off all the clothes that Lilly said she should wear and resolved to get different clothes later. Going to her wall of photos, she tore down every single picture she had. She would take new ones. Every memento she had saved from hanging out with Lilly went in the trash, too. She didn't need them.

Looking around at her now bare room and overflowing trash bin, she felt accomplished. And, she was proud to say she only had a couple more crying fits before the shaking stopped completely. There was one thing left that she felt she had to do. So, she sat in front of her vanity mirror and began braiding her hair.

Regardless of whether or not rape was Lilly's intent, Lilly was the reason for Veronica's loss of innocence. She was the reason Veronica had felt so helpless and weak. But, she vowed not to stay that way. That would mean that Lilly won. Veronica had been broken but she would rebuild herself to reflect what she had learned. She swore to find out who did this to her and make them pay. She would make Lilly pay. She would make them all pay.

Feeling her veins course with anger, she thought, someone always has to pay.

Grabbing hold of the metal scissors, she enjoyed the solid weight of it in her hand. It made her feel powerful, and she felt better already.

_Snip_.

She cut the braid close to her neck.

_Snip_.

She cut off her ties with Lilly.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To **JeniLyn2000 **and **Astranti**: Lilly is going to be tricky to redeem, especially after this chapter. So I'm going to be honest and say, if I don't see a believable way for her redemption, it's not going to happen. I'd rather let just let her have the ending she deserved than have all the characters magically forgive/love her. I am open to ideas if you anyone has any though. I've got a couple of ways that it could go for her, but it's a little iffy.

I could have ended the chapter after Duncan raped her, but I didn't want to leave it on too depressing a note.

It's sad that I can't focus on Lilly in a positive light though, because on the show, I imagine her as the female version of Logan. And I love me some Logan. Both are charismatic and natural leaders. People are naturally drawn to them. She still is all those things in this story, but now those characteristics are used more nefariously instead of just to have fun.

So… yeah. Cassidy's not a villain in this story. From this chapter and the first one, you see that he actually likes Veronica and is willing to protect her like Logan. And if you still don't like him, that's cool, too ^^. You might like him even less depending on whether or not you like MaDi (which, by the way, can stand for Madison and Dick, too). It's complicated…

Also, you didn't think I forgot about Mac/Madison, did you? It's happening, big time. Just not yet.

Fun fact: I can't math. You heard me.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: The Kanes have some more fun with rumors. Veronica is back on the field. Knee socks, anyone? Logan and Veronica play detective.

Did it feel odd? Ridiculous? Unbelievable? Please leave your feedback so I can make changes and updates because this chapter was particularly hard to write.


	6. Chapter 6

**King of Mars**

A/N: Let's all just take a moment to do a little hand waving about how Veronica can become a private investigator despite being only sixteen at this point in the story.

Chapter 6

.

He called out to her, but she only seemed to float past him unaffected. It was as if he had merely dreamt up the year in which they knew each other.

He just barely resisted reaching out for her, instead choosing to take in her appearance for the first time in over a month. He was half convinced that it really was a dream. She looked nothing like the Veronica he had seen for the majority sophomore year, Lilly's pet. Instead, she looked like the Veronica he had met for the first time exactly one year ago. He absentmindedly acknowledged, except for her knee socks. They were out of place on her.

But like in his memories, her hair was short once more, shorter than before actually. Too short to need anything other than the headband she wore to keep her hair from her eyes. Her sensible and comfortable athletic wear were back, and she seemed more real than he had seen her last. As if she got a piece of herself back.

As if the nasty rumors that manifested and took hold after Shelly's party didn't affect her. Everyone from both sides of the social divide had been talking about Veronica and Shelly's party. Her behavior was nothing new and many did far worse, but the fact that it was Veronica who was caught in the act was what made it sensational.

Logan easily traced the most damaging rumors back to Lilly. Compounded upon the talk about Shelly's party, Lilly had been telling everyone that she had been hurt and deceived by Veronica's good girl act. Apparently, Veronica really wasn't as sweet as everyone thought, and she was only using Lilly for her status and was playing both Duncan and Logan. She told them that she had confronted Veronica about her behavior after the party, and she confessed everything. Of course, he didn't believe anything Lilly said and knew that Lilly didn't really expect him to. She was just playing her part. He didn't know why, and he only cared to find out because he just wanted to figure out what was going on with Veronica. It had to have something to do with Lilly.

But at the moment, she looked like nobody could touch her, not even him. No, that was wrong. Logan could see she was surrounded by her friends even now. Her real friends. The ones she had before but had given up once upon a time. And now, he was the one on the outside looking in. They were with her now, and he couldn't help but feel resentful and angry.

A month ago, he spent days at her doorstep, pounding at whoever was inside to let him in. To let him see her and know she was okay. And each day, he was turned away. Veronica had requested that all visitors be turned away. He was adamant that Veronica didn't mean him and argued as such, but the Sheriff and her mother had assured him that she meant _all_ visitors were to be turned away. Sheriff Mars was more sympathetic about Logan's predicament and confessed that he had no idea what was wrong with Veronica either and was just respecting her wishes.

On the sixth day, the Sheriff had handed him a letter from Veronica. It was brief and left him more confused than ever.

_Logan,_

_I'm sorry. There's something I have to do alone. Please don't come back._

_Veronica. _

What did she need to do? And why did she need to do it alone? He wanted answers but complied with her request and didn't come back. He figured she'd come to him when she was ready to talk about whatever she was dealing with or was doing. But seeing her so carefree around her friends, his blood boiled. What the fuck? If she wanted to be alone, fine. He would deal with that. But, she wasn't alone. And that made him irrationally jealous and angry.

She stubbornly avoided meeting his eyes, though he was sure she felt his gaze because she never met them even by chance.

.

Coach Roberts had split the team into two, and like the previous year, set up a practice match. Veronica and Sean ended up being the two team captains. Coach had actually selected Carmen to be a captain so that she could gain experience, but she volunteered Veronica to take her place for the practice match. And then she casually suggested Veronica take back her position as captain. Unsuccessful though she were, it was a nice gesture that Veronica appreciated.

Veronica's team claimed victory, and Coach Roberts had demanded she and Sean shake hands in a show of good sportsmanship. Holding out her hand, Veronica fought against her instinct to pull it back and vomit when her skin made contact with his. She took a deep breath to calm herself. She would get over this. She could do this, she thought. It was a mantra she often internally chanted to herself to strengthen herself.

She made no comment as he sarcastically congratulated her for winning. Her only thoughts were to reach the solitude of her car.

Since Shelly's party, she had developed a violent aversion to physical contact. The reactions usually varied depending on the person and how safe she felt. She didn't even know that she had it until she left her house and accidentally came into contact with someone other than her parents. It was a sign of weakness that she didn't need. It didn't fit with the new persona she wanted to project. But, when Sean touched her hand, it triggered a wave of panic within her. Thoughts flooded her mind. Did he know what happened to her? Was he the one who did it?

She couldn't control her thoughts. And, she especially couldn't control her thoughts at night. The nightmares had gotten better though. She no longer woke up screaming from dreams about hands reaching out to choke her.

Her hand reached up to nervously touch her throat. She had used makeup to cover up the old, fading bruises. The rest of her body was littered with other bruises that she took great care in covering up, not only to hide them from others but to hide them from herself too. They reminded her that the person who violated her was someone she knew. And even once they faded, she knew that she would not forget. Someone she knew chose to hurt her in the most horrible way. But, that only made it easier for her to do what she needed to.

For the past month, she kept herself _very _busy. She finished going over her life with a fine toothed comb and eliminated all traces of Lilly's touch and influence. Then, she compiled a list of what else she needed to accomplish. The first items on her list were easy: drop pep squad and join soccer. She told herself she wasn't going to pretend to be the girl she was before; she didn't want to. But, she wasn't going to just stop doing the things she loved. It would feel too much like losing, and she already lost enough of herself.

Next, she needed to apologize to her old friends and her father. While she had been swept up in Lilly's lies, _her_ lies caused their own pain and destruction. She had effectively blown off all her old friends and managed to cut her father from her life by the time her sentence with Lilly was over.

The day after it happened, she approached her father with half truths. Or half lies depending on a person's outlook. She told him her car had been left at Lilly's and asked him to get it back for her. When asked why, she chokingly explained that she and Lilly weren't friends anymore because Lilly wasn't who she thought she was. She said she had left their sleepover early and walked home last night in a fit of anger. Her father mercifully agreed, and she did something she hadn't done in a long time. She hugged her father. The apologies came a day after. It almost broke her heart to know that her father could so easily forgive her for ignoring his concerns and all the worry she put him through.

When she apologized to her old friends, she really hadn't planned on slipping back into the past friendships. But, in their presence, it felt nice to pretend that her life hadn't changed in the past year. Though it was the first time she had talked to them in months, her friends had welcomed her back into their fold. Carmen was more than happy to accept her apologies, for which Veronica was immensely grateful.

In actuality, Carmen was angry that Veronica had left her for Lilly and the other 09ers. But, she was too kindhearted to hold onto that anger, especially after hearing all the rumors about her. She found it hard to believe that Veronica had acted in such a way at Shelly's party, but there were eyewitnesses and a few pictures that she couldn't refute. However, she found it odd that Veronica would drink enough to act like that in the first place. Veronica hated drinking. Carmen outright denounced the rumors about Veronica's manipulative nature and promiscuity, too. Veronica wasn't like that, and she had argued as such whenever someone had brought them up.

As Veronica talked with them on the field, she was careful not to get _too_ close. Her anxiety reminded her that while it was nice to pretend, things _were_ different. She was different. And, she had to remember that. She couldn't depend on them to keep her sheltered like before. But, at the same time, she didn't want to isolate herself from them again either. It seemed she was still not strong enough to break away from her old self completely. So, she instead allowed herself to build new friendships with them rather than rekindle their old ones.

Another item on Veronica's list was getting revenge on the people who purposefully hurt her: Lilly, her rapist, and the people who started those rumors about her. She would add to that list as needed.

Her father once told her that information was a weapon, and she would use it as a weapon now. But to get information, she needed access to a database she had heard about from Vinnie Van Lowe, the town's private investigator. Vinnie was the one she had accidentally come into contact with and made her anxiety known to herself. While rifling through the confidential files in a storage room at the sheriff's department for information on Lilly Kane, she had bumped into Vinnie who was in the process of sneaking in. In exchange for her silence, he had told her of an easier approach to gathering information if she didn't find what she needed there.

Unfortunately, he had used the term 'easier' very loosely. To access the database, Veronica needed to be a private investigator. Researching how to become a private investigator, Veronica was very tempted to turn Vinnie in to her father. To get a license, Veronica would have needed to get a criminal history background check, have at least three years of verified compensated experience in investigative work, pass an exam, and submit a licensing fee.

Passing the exam was the easy part, especially when Veronica didn't have anything to distract her, like a social life.

But, to obtain the experience she needed, she gritted her teeth, temporarily suspended her morals, and forged her father's signature on the necessary documents. And the days before she received her license, she was on high alert, ready to intercept any letters that might ask her father for verification about her work with him. Veronica wasn't quite ready to test just how much he would be willing to forgive her for. Fortunately, nothing came.

Her first taste of successfully blackmailing someone came quick and surprisingly easy. Threatening to tell her father about seeing him in the storage room, she forced Vinnie to teach her what he knew about digging up information on people and tracking them. Before he accepted her, he begged her to take self defense lessons or else the Sheriff would kill him for letting his daughter tag along with him on his investigations. She immediately signed up for tae kwon do lessons, and Vinnie reluctantly allowed her to sit on stakeouts with him. She eventually worked her way up to active field work.

He said she had the right stomach for this line of work, but she didn't respond with anything other than a head nod because she was too busy trying to keep her body still and face stoic. Being in a small car with someone when you have a repulsion towards human contact was not fun, but she thought she was doing better. The first time it happened, she didn't expect to begin hyperventilating or breaking down into sobs. Luckily, Vinnie bought her simple excuse of being frightened.

Learning tae kwon do was just another ordeal she got through using sheer force of will. The lessons were often hands on with no room for negotiation. Sucking it up was her only option. She needed it after all.

The last one on her list was equally difficult to the previous ones, which was hard to believe considering she needed to _find her rapist_. But, she never quite knew how to handle him in the first place. She needed to deal with Logan and set things straight with him. And, while she had absolutely no idea what that entailed, she knew that she needed to ask for forgiveness and understanding at the very least.

The walk to her car seemed longer than usual, but she made it. The parking lot was quickly emptying, but maybe it was the stares and whispers from the less accepting members of her team who lingered that made it feel so long.

While she fumbled with her keys to open her car door, she stood tall and ignored them all.

Until, someone had literally pushed her into acknowledging them. Sean Friedrich. She rubbed her shoulder and examined her knees. There would be new bruises to add to her old ones. Damn. They were just healing too. At least she wouldn't have to wear knee socks to cover them up anymore. She could blame the bruises on Friedrich's idiocy.

He looked down at her smugly. "I've been meaning to ask, Mars. What's up with those knee socks? Do they help with your job? I forget, are you a stripper or a whore now? I can't keep up with all the rumors. But, I guess they're work appropriate either way, right?"

They were mostly hidden from view behind her car. It was a good time as any to put her newly acquired skills to use. He would be an example to the others that she would not be taking things lying down. That she was different and on the attack. Calmly, she replied. "Remember when I said you get three strikes?"

"Why should I?"

"Cause it's going to suck to be you in a few seconds," she said. She launched herself at him, taking him down. Keeping him pinned on his stomach, she pressed her knee into his lower back. She was trembling on the inside from touching him but refused to let him know that. "Because I remember. It was kinda like a promise, too. And I keep my promises. To everyone, no matter how sniveling they are. It's a shame I forgot until now. My sincerest apologies."

He thrashed beneath her. His arms were useless as she held them together against his back. "Fuck, bitch. Get off me!"

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she struggled this much against her rapist. Fighting to keep her emotions even and the bile from rising in her throat, she managed to get out, "Are you sure? I haven't done anything yet. And, you were _so_ curious about what I could do to you last time." Good, her words sounded confident to her ears. Confident and powerful.

"You're crazy!" His voice was high pitched. He was scared. Also good.

"Name calling isn't nice. Now apologize. For last time, this time, and just being a jackass in general." She grounded her elbow into the back of his neck. He didn't notice her sneaking his cell phone from his bag.

He screamed, "Fuck you!"

Her elbow dug deeper into his skin. She bluffed, "You know, I can do this all day." She was starting to shake slightly on the outside now. She couldn't keep it up for long, but he didn't have to know that.

He eventually stopped struggling, and she felt his body loosen underneath her. He was submitting to her. Only a few more moments, and she wouldn't have to touch him anymore.

He groaned, "Fuck! Fine. I'm sorry. Now get off me."

"Magic words?"

"Please, get off me."

"Sure," she replied cheerfully.

"Finally." He started to shift to get up, and she held his arms tighter.

"But first, you're going to give me that apology."

"Why the fuck should I?"

"Because I can make you. Your friends already left. Who's going to save you?" She felt no better than her attacker, but it had to be done.

He spat out, "What do you want from me?"

"Did what's left of your brain take a little trip before? Apologize."

"Fine. I'm sorry."

"Nu-uh. You didn't let me finish. On your knees." A little bit of poetic justice for all of his nasty comments.

"_Fine_."

"Where did you learn your manners? I wasn't_ finished_. I want you to apologize on your knees while I record it."

"Are you fucking serious? No way."

"You're not getting up until you agree. And I will catch you if you try to leave."

"You're going to regret it when my driver gets here."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? He's not coming. It seems someone texted him not to."

"What did you do?!"

She dangled his cell phone in front of his face and taunted, "Oops. Was I too obvious?"

Seeing no other way out, he tiredly said, "Let's get it over with."

"I bet you say _that_ a lot," she jeered and tried not to get off him too hastily.

Reaching into the trunk of her car, she pulled out the camera she had splurged on after Vinnie told her she might need a decent video camera for surveillance. For photos, she still relied on Logan's present to her.

After properly apologizing to her, Sean grabbed his stuff and quickly scrambled off in a random direction to get away from her. He would realize that she still had his phone eventually.

Waving him goodbye, she happily called out, "Tell your friends!"

It had been a success. No doubt Sean would tell everyone what she had done to him; though, she was sure he would keep quiet about the part where she had recorded him apologizing to her. Mentally patting herself on the back, she tossed his phone carelessly into her trunk and put back her video camera.

.

"So is this like a thing you do now?"

Narrowly avoiding bumping her head against the inside of her trunk, she spun around. "Logan."

"Cause I have to say, kinda hot to watch. But at the same time… What the fuck, Veronica?" He took a step toward her and leaned in with his arms on either side of her, trapping her. "You've been avoiding me. And now we're going to have a talk."

Her nerves were already working overtime from handling Sean, but Logan's too close proximity had yet to send her over the edge and into a full blown panic attack. She took it as a definite sign she was getting better.

"I'm busy with something."

Bitterly, he replied, "Yeah, I got your letter."

"Logan, I'm really sorry."

He was being harsh, but he couldn't stop himself. "Funnily enough, I got that from your letter, too. Why don't you try telling me something new? Like why you've been avoiding me? Or, what the fuck that was?"

"I wasn't avoiding you," she lied.

"Bull shit. Try again."

"I wasn't avoiding just you."

"Well, don't I feel better," he said sarcastically. "But it doesn't really answer my questions."

"I was just… Logan. I—" A sob escaped her lips. More sobs soon followed, and she couldn't speak.

Shit. He made her cry. Wrapping his arms around her, he tucked her head under his chin and apologized. "I'm sorry, Veronica. I'm sorry I scared you. I'm sorry I pressured you. I'm sorry for acting like a jerk. Just stop crying."

She gasped between each word, "It's not you, Logan. It's me."

"Ouch. You know you really messed up if they break up with you before you even go out with them."

She laughed sharply but relaxed. She pushed lightly against his chest to lift her head up to him. "No, it's really me. I've been doing some things."

"Yeah, I think we covered that well enough. What things?"

He saw her lower lip tremble. Sighing, he surrendered to the tears already threatening to fall from her eyes, "Forget it. But you have to tell me what's going with you eventually."

Seeing her nod slowly, he knew he might never find out. Still, he continued, "Just don't run away from me. Okay, Mars?"

She nodded more confidently now. Quietly, she said, "Okay."

Jokingly, he said, "Cause I'm a better runner. And whatever shit you pulled back there, don't even think about trying that on me. I'm stronger than you, too."

His words should've scared her, but they didn't. And, a part of her wanted to surrender to the protection that his presence offered her, but she couldn't go back to that again. She couldn't be sheltered by her old friends, and she couldn't be sheltered by him. She couldn't rely on people when she felt everyone was bound to turn against her at some point. The only exception she made was for her father.

"Thanks, Logan."

She moved to detangle herself from his embrace, but he held her in place. "You know, when I saw him shove you like that, I was pretty close to losing it. Then I saw you flip him and hold him down. Did you always know how to do that?"

She gulped visibly. "I've been… learning."

He stroked her hair absentmindedly. "Ah, look. I'm already uncovering your secrets and I wasn't even trying. Think your dad will make me an honorary detective?"

"No. But I can get you a Hardy Boy costume. Who do you like better? Frank or Joe?"

"Can't I just be Jake?"

"… Who's Jake?" He couldn't have been referring to the Kane patriarch. Her stomach churned again at the thought of the Kane family, and she subconsciously nestled her head into the crook of his neck.

"He's Nancy Drew's boyfriend."

"No, he's not."

"Yeah, he is."

"Nancy Drew's boyfriend was Ned Nickerson."

"For most of the series, yeah. But then she hooks up with Jake when she goes off to college."

"You know an awful lot about Nancy Drew."

Speaking low and into her ear, he said, "I'm a man of many interests."

"Yeah, I'm beginning to see that now. So, is this lovefest over now? I need to go home and get that 'stuff' done." She didn't really feel like leaving, but it was just another thing she felt like she had to do.

Not even close, he thought. He definitely stepped over a line by approaching and handling her in such a way, but he didn't care. He hadn't seen her in over a month. He had been worried. _And_ he had been angry. Not just at her but at Duncan, too. When the rumors had been flying around about Veronica playing both him and Duncan, Logan tried his best to dispel them but Duncan had remained silent. He had no idea what his friend was thinking, but Veronica needed someone to protect her. And if it had to be him, so be it. If only until Duncan got his head out of his ass anyway. "I'll let you go when you promise me something else."

"Now why does that sound familiar? This isn't going to end with a humiliating video of me is it?"

"Not unless you're into that. So, promise?"

"How do you know I'm going to keep my promise?"

"After that little scene, I think we both know how strongly you feel about promises."

"Yeah, about that…"

"I won't say a word."

"No, I was going to say go ahead. Tell whomever. Tell _everyone_."

"You don't care about your parents hearing about it?"

"I'll be fine," she said. She'd make it up to her dad somehow if she had to.

"Why the sudden change?"

"It's a secret. Now what's the promise?"

He sighed, "I'm getting tired of your secrets, Mars. But fine. Promise me that if you need help, you'll call me. Anytime, anywhere. I want to help you."

"Man, some guys just can't take no for an answer, huh?"

"You're lucky I'm one of those guys."

"Alright, Logan. I promise." After a long moment, she pointed out, "You're still hugging me."

"So I am."

"Thinking of letting go anytime soon?"

"Not particularly."

"But, I promised."

"I guess we should've been more worried about me holding up my end of the deal."

"…"

"Bobcat?"

"Yeah?"

"Welcome back."

"Thanks…You're still hugging me."

"Shh. You're ruining the moment."

.

Neither Duncan nor Lilly had rejoined soccer that summer for very different reasons.

Jake thought it was time for Duncan to start padding his resume for college. Therefore, he arranged for Duncan to spend his weekday mornings interning at the mayor's office, leaving no time for soccer.

Duncan couldn't decide whether or not that was a good thing. On one hand, he wouldn't get to see Veronica. On the other hand, he wouldn't have to see Veronica. The weight of his decision that night weighed heavily on him, but he'd do it again in a heartbeat. He would always treasure that night as the only night he'd ever been truly happy. It was a shame Veronica couldn't remember it with him.

From what Logan had told him, Veronica had completely disappeared from the social scene. However, even if she didn't voluntarily remove herself, no one from her previous social circle would have wanted to hang out with her anyway. Lilly made sure of that.

When he first heard the rumors, his first instinct was to tell Lilly to stop. But, then he thought the rumors would work in his favor. If everyone believed that the rumors were true, no one would want to hang out with her. Then she'd be isolated, and no one else could have her. It was perfect. The next time he heard Lilly tell their friends that Veronica had attempted to seduce both him and Logan, he remained silent on purpose and pretended to be contemplative. By not speaking up to defend Veronica like Logan did, Duncan was letting them assume that Lilly's words were true. And, they would think that Logan was still just being tricked by her. The 09er girls ate it up, eager to believe the worst of the outsider.

Of course, his tactic had one major drawback. Logan was, at the very least, annoyed at him and was no longer by his side as frequently as he was before. Logan had confronted him about not defending Veronica several times. However, Duncan defended himself by saying he was silent because he didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Duncan knew that Logan didn't completely accept his reason or like his actions, but he let it go and went on defending Veronica by himself.

Like him, other people weren't so quick to defend Veronica as Logan was. In fact, they had jumped on the chance to claim that they had hooked up with Veronica in some way or another just to bolster their own popularity. And, due in part to Veronica's absence, the girls freely insulted her and called her a slut, all the while listing their fake grievances. It seemed to the 09ers that Lilly had called open season on Veronica Mars, and after a year of having to put up with someone who didn't belong, they rejoiced at the decree and gladly obeyed. Really, it couldn't have worked out better for Duncan.

As for Lilly, Celeste and Jake had given up on trying to use soccer to rehabilitate her. Instead, they allowed her to continue with her pep squad activities all through summer to keep her occupied. And while the team raised money for the school with their weekly car washes and bake sales, Lilly was busy cementing the rumors she created and passed around.

She made up the rumor about Veronica using her for her wealth and status after deciding that it was easier for others to believe her when she was playing the deceived friend. She made up the rumor about Veronica messing around with both Duncan and Logan at the same time after deciding that she could and they would still believe her. Logan had predictably denied it, but Duncan remained silent about everything. It was surprising considering she knew how much he liked her, but Lilly didn't question it. Everyone knew how much he liked Veronica, too, so his silence was practically an admission of Veronica's guilt. For all intents and purposes, Veronica was just a social climber who wanted to sink her claws into two of the richest boys in Neptune.

The rumors had even reached her father's ears after making the rounds at the country club. A scandal involving the Sheriff's daughter? The people just _had_ to be informed. He had brought it up with Lilly once. He asked her what she knew about the rumors, and Lilly was more than happy to shed a few tears and _regretfully_ confirm the rumors. After that, whenever Lilly had casually mentioned Veronica's name, a pained look crossed Jake's face and he'd inexplicably retreat to his private study. Her pleasure quickly turned to displeasure; however, when Jake had asked Lilly stay away from Veronica to appease Celeste. Lilly knew it was bull shit. For whatever reason, Jake was just trying to keep her from further corrupting Veronica. But it didn't matter now, she got what she wanted.

Feeling as if she were missing something, she finally realized that no one had seen Veronica for over a week. And, Lilly was not going to give up the opportunity to see the damage she inflicted in person.

Lilly immediately drove to Veronica's house to revel in her victory, maybe rub it in a little and inform her that none of their friends wanted to hang out with her anymore. Instead, she was turned away on sight and told never to visit again by Keith Mars. She wondered if Veronica told her father about what Lilly did. But, she figured she wouldn't be walking free if Veronica did tattle on her to her father, not without the help of one of her father's overpriced attorneys. Whatever reason Veronica had for not telling her father, Lilly didn't care. She didn't.

She did, however, figure that Veronica's absence was due to the immeasurable embarrassment and humiliation she just had to have been feeling. She wouldn't find out just how much she had underestimated Veronica until the first day of school.

.

When Lilly had confirmed the rumors about Veronica, Jake had promptly called Lianne to tell her what he had just been told and to ask if Veronica was okay. After hearing about how Veronica was not talking to her mother and took refuge in her room most of the day, Jake blamed himself for not being able to take a more active role in Veronica's life.

He begged Lianne keep Veronica away from Lilly, figuring it was Lilly's fault for corrupting Veronica. He had told her that he already planned to Lilly keep away from Veronica under the guise of appeasing Celeste. Despite his initial pleasure that his daughters were getting along, the price for their familiarity was too high. And, if he had to choose, he would save Veronica.

.

When Lianne got the call from Jake, everything about Veronica's sudden change in demeanor made sense. While she was greatly disappointed in her daughter's actions at the party, she blamed it all on Lilly being a horrible influence on her sweet Veronica. And, she berated Jake for allowing Lilly to have such an effect on Veronica.

She had readily agreed to keep Veronica away from Lilly, though there wasn't much she could do. Veronica had long stopped talking to her about anything significant before Lilly happened. Thankfully, Jake had already told Lilly to keep away from Veronica.

What she should've done was put her foot down and told Veronica to stay away from Lilly the moment she noticed Veronica started to dress differently. But, she was just too happy for Jake, who got to see his daughters getting along and living in the same town. And, Veronica's grades hadn't suffered, so she figured Veronica would never become as bad as Lilly.

She was wrong.

And now, Lianne had no reason to feel smug when both she and Celeste had failed.

When she told Keith about what she had heard, Keith was completely unreasonable about it. He acted like she was crazy for even implying that Veronica needed serious help.

.

Keith never questioned where she got the information; he knew they were still carrying on their affair. However, he did question her alarm. Veronica was a good kid. She wasn't going to just start spiraling out of control because of what she did at one party. Their daughter was better than that. And, despite his disappointment in her for lying to him about the party among other things, he understood that they were teenagers once too and a night of drunken regrets wasn't out of the norm.

Everything just seemed so blown out of proportion. This was their daughter she was talking about. His baby girl. And, she seemed to be punishing herself just fine anyway. He was more worried about how she was handling it than what she did, honestly. His instincts told him that something else must have happened.

A few days later, Lilly had paid Veronica a visit. She never came back after she was turned away the first time. Something that Logan failed to do until Veronica relented enough to write him a letter. And, as her father, he didn't know if he should be relieved or not that Logan cared enough about Veronica to be persistent in seeing her.

When she asked to shadow him at the station and for him to teach her more about what he did, he agreed. He was eager to have her outside of her room and by his side.

When she asked to sign up for tae kwon do lessons, he agreed. He was a bit perplexed about her sudden desire to learn but thought it wouldn't hurt if she knew how to defend herself.

When she asked to join soccer again, he agreed. He was happy that she was regaining some of her old interests.

When she finally got around to shadowing him at the station, Keith's immediate thought was that she wasn't his baby girl anymore. Well, she would always be his baby girl really, but she seemed so much more mature than he had remembered her.

.

Staring off into the ocean, Dick asked, "So, have you been hanging with Ronnie?"

Hesitantly, Logan replied, "Yeah. I got her to talk to me again."

"Really? That's awesome! So, she's okay then?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Do you think what they're saying about her is true?"

Looking at his friend, Logan firmly stated, "You know it's not."

"No, not the rumors. Who do you take me for? I meant her and Sean. Sean says she cornered him in the parking lot and threatened him with a knife."

Logan laughed, "There definitely wasn't a knife."

Shocked, Dick exclaimed, "She told you what happened, and she won't even talk to me? That hurts."

"Don't start writing in your diary yet. She didn't tell me. I saw it go down. The ass pushed her and made some comment about her. She just put him in his place. Without the use of knives."

"He's got all those bruises on him though."

"Yeah…"

"Oh, man. Ronnie did that? That's hot."

"Oh yeah." Logan fondly recalled the memory of little Veronica turning the tables on Sean.

Slowly, Dick began voicing what he really wanted to know, "So, what's been going on with her?"

He sighed, "I don't know. We've been talking, but she won't tell me."

"She won't talk to me at all. I haven't even seen her."

"Don't take it personally. She probably just doesn't want to put you in an awkward position."

"She's my friend."

"You're Madison's boyfriend. Lilly's _her_ friend. And you know what they've been saying about her."

Conflicted by the truth in Logan's words, Dick asked, "You sure she's okay though?"

"Yeah. Just give her some time."

After a pause, Dick asked another question, "Do you know why everyone's spreading those rumors?"

"Off the top of my head? Lilly."

"But _why_ would she just do that to Veronica? It doesn't make sense to me."

"You and me both."

"They are lies, right?..."

"Dick."

"Sorry. I just had to be sure. None of this makes sense. Ronnie doing those things, all those rumors, and Lilly turning everyone against Ronnie? It's crazy. Duncan's not even doing anything."

"Trust me, I know."

"You think something happened between them?"

"Veronica didn't say anything. And, Duncan didn't say anything either."

"We need to find out what happened at that party."

"I don't think they were lying about how she was acting, Dick. They had pictures." Pictures that he deleted after threatening them bodily harm if they didn't give up their phones.

"Yeah, but do you think Veronica would've done any of that?"

"No…"

"It's that party, man. After that, shit just hit the fan. You didn't even find her anywhere when she went missing."

"You're making too much sense. It's frightening."

"Be serious here. I heard someone say they saw Mr. Mars go to Lilly's house the next day to pick up Veronica's car, too. And Veronica wasn't even there either. Something definitely happened at the party to make Ronnie change."

"We need to find out what happened at that party," Logan repeated.

He exclaimed, "That's what I've been saying!"

"What do you think we should do?"

"Isn't that your job? I just come up with the ideas. You execute them."

"That's real great help there, Dick."

Dick offered no apologies and simply grinned at his friend.

"Do you remember anything from that night?"

"Just Madison breaking up with me. I was pretty shitfaced by the time you took me home."

"I think we need to find out who was there and what they saw."

"Shouldn't be too hard. Every 09er always comes to the summer kickoff party."

"Your knowledge astounds me sometimes. Really."

"Well, do you remember anything?"

"I gave Veronica pretty weak drinks, but after the rum and coke, Lilly gave her everything after that. When I left with you, she was still sitting with them. She looked pretty out of it."

"Why was Ronnie even drinking that much? She hates that stuff."

"Just one of the mysteries we need to solve." He listed, "Why was she drinking, what exactly happened after I left, who she was with last, what happened between her and Lilly, and why are they acting like this?"

"Shouldn't be too hard."

"Yep."

"And Ronnie won't tell us anything."

"Nope. I've been trying, too."

"Well, it's not like we were planning on doing anything good this summer. You think she'll talk to me if I go to soccer with you?"

"I kinda had to trap her against her car to get her to talk to me."

"So my odds are good?"

"Sure, Dick. Just remember what happened to Sean though and wear a cup."

"Why didn't she do that with you?"

"I'm stronger?"

"More like special treatment."

"Jealous?"

"Fuck yeah. That's one of my oldest friends you're talking about here. I'm not handing her over to you. Unless that's what both of you want," he said slyly.

"You know we're not like that."

"I know what I see."

"Are we seriously going to talk about our feelings now? Let's talk about you and Madison first. Did she keep your balls the first time around?"

"Testy. I just want to know if you're willing to protect her when I can't."

"You know I am."

"Then we're good. Because if you're going to give her up cause of a punk like Duncan, don't. If he can't even speak up for her, he's not worth her time."

"Thanks. Girl talk over?"

"Over and out. Let's go shake people down for information."

For the weeks until school started, they still didn't have enough answers to figure out everything out. A lot of people had a lot to say about what she did but not much as to why. Cassidy left before Logan did with a freshman, so he didn't see anything. Meg and Cole left while Veronica was being used as a salt lick. Lilly laughed in their faces. Dick didn't want to ask Madison until it was absolutely necessary. Shelly passed out after drinking too much when Duncan left her to save Veronica. However, most people agreed that the last time they saw Veronica was after Duncan carried her into the main house. John said he came back and told him that he left Veronica in one of the rooms to sleep it off.

When Logan asked Duncan about it, Duncan corroborated each statement. He told him that he carried Veronica into a guest room, left her there to sleep it off, and then went home alone when he couldn't find Shelly.

They were at a lost until Dick suggested they start following Veronica to see what she was up to now.

A usual day for Veronica started out with a morning jog along Dog Beach with Backup, soccer practice until noon, picking up lunch for herself and her father, and then the station. She didn't leave again until around dinner time when she went home. After which she'd go to her tae kwon do lessons. Then things got peculiar.

After one night of devotedly observing her from afar, they were about to call it a night when Dick noticed Veronica's window swing open. With open mouths, they watched as she climbed out the second floor window and then scale down the side of an adjacent tree. Then they watched in astonishment as a car pulled around from the corner and picked her up. Her casualness about it all was the only thing that told them she wasn't being kidnapped and kept them from springing into action.

That night and the following nights that Veronica happened to sneak out, they followed the car. From what they could see, neither Veronica nor the unknown driver left the car after stopping at either a hotel or a normal looking house. They just sat there for hours. And, due to the tinted windows and darkness of the night, neither Dick nor Logan knew what the two were doing.

.

"Are you sure you don't want me to lose them?"

"Yeah, they're harmless," Veronica said from the passenger seat.

"Mind telling me who they are in case they mess up my job?"

"Just two of my friends. They're just worried, I think."

"You should probably tell them. I get the feeling that they're not the type to just follow quietly, if you know what I mean. And I can't really afford getting into any fights and jeopardizing my money maker."

"You can make them get you a new camera."

"I wasn't talking about my camera."

"They can't do more to your face that God hasn't already."

"Cute. Remind me why I keep bringing you?"

"You enjoy my company?"

He snorted. "Try again."

"Must be the blackmail then."

"And don't you forget. I still don't believe you have pictures of me breaking in."

"Oh he of little faith."

"Just stay quiet and watch the master in action. Batando's coming out."

Veronica and Vinnie crouched down lower in their seats, and Veronica prayed that Logan and Dick were doing the same so their cover wasn't blown.

After Vinnie got the money shot of Steve Batando clearly able to walk and thus comitting insurance fraud, Veronica thought about how to deal with keeping them off her trail later. She didn't need anyone seeing her or wondering why she would steal security tapes from the Pomroy estate.

She knew they had been trying to figure out what happened the night of Shelly's party because that's what she'd been doing too. She actually got a lot of information from covertly listening in on their conversations with the party attendees, but, she was no closer to figuring out who raped her than they were of figuring out that she had been raped.

They really needed to stop.

.

Pulling the backseat door open, Veronica got in and stated, "You two need to cut it out."

Both boys screamed and jumped in their seats. It was dark, and they didn't see her leave her house to sneak up on them.

"We don't know what you're talking about. Cut what out?"

"Following me?"

"Oh, that. Yeah. We can't."

"And why not?"

"You won't tell us what happened, so we're figuring it out ourselves. Right, Logan?"

Logan waved sheepishly from the driver's seat.

"By following me. Not very well either. You guys really need to pick a car that's not the same color as Big Bird."

Running his hand over his steering wheel tenderly, Logan said, "Don't worry. She's just jealous."

She rolled her eyes, repeating herself, "You guys _need_ to stop."

Logan argued, "We can't until we figure out what happened."

"Have you guys thought about how I felt about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Oh I don't know. Maybe there was a reason I don't want you to know what happened?"

"But that night wasn't your fault."

She froze, "What do you know?"

Sensing something was amiss, Logan slowly responded, "We know you drank a lot that night and that wasn't like you."

She relaxed by a hair. "Anything else?"

"You've been hanging out with your dad at the station a lot, you're learning tae kwon do, and you've been going out at night with some guy."

"Oh, goodie. My very own stalkers."

"You're not going to tell us why you've been hanging out with some old guy?"

"Do you believe the rumors?"

Quickly, Logan said, "Of course not!"

"Good because they're not true, first of all. Second, his name is Vinnie Van Lowe, and I've been learning some investigating tips from him."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Veronica…"

"No, I already let you guys find out more than I ever intended to. Would you please drop it now?"

"We don't know anything. Why were you drinking so much?"

"You know enough. Drop it."

"You're not safe."

"I'm safe enough."

"You're running around at night."

"Well lucky for me, I've got two strapping young gentleman following me around."

"Veronica."

"Logan. Dick."

"You're our friend."

"Yeah, Ronnie. You think I like having to follow you around just to be able to be part of your life?"

This was the first time she'd actually talked to Dick since the party. "I don't talk to a lot of people now, especially not when they're part of the 09ers."

A little angry, Dick replied, "Logan's an 09er, too. And I'm your friend first before I'm an 09er."

Helplessly, she replied, "I can't guarantee anything."

"We just want to help."

Taking a deep breath, she said, "You can't." She got out of the car. "Go home."

Later that night when she was certain they had left, she snuck out her back door. And before anyone noticed she had left, she snuck back into her room, cradling her prize close to her.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

Before anything else, I just wanted to say. HOLY MARSHMALLOW. I just watched the official first look for the Veronica Mars movie. Straight up fangirl squeeing. How cute are they?

Also, as you may have noticed, the following contains a lot of softcore spoilers. Read at your own risk.

To **alisosia**: For the month between the party and soccer practice, Veronica effectively isolated herself from everyone, minus her parents. While she has reconnected with her old friends on the soccer field, she has not initiated any contact with her 09er friends, including Dick and Cassidy, and didn't plan to. Cassidy's friendship with Veronica can be easily rekindled since he has no real ties to the 09er group save for Dick. Dick's friendship with Veronica is harder since he wants to be with Madison, but Madison is in deep with Lilly and forces Dick to be the same. Veronica knows this and doesn't want to make him choose. Lilly definitely did not plan for Veronica to be raped, but she was incredibly irresponsible in thinking that nothing bad would happen to Veronica. Lilly's redemption is still being decided upon. However, Duncan's storyline is pretty much already set in stone, very effed up stone. Wallace and Weevil are coming up in the next chapter, and I am trying to write it so that they have relationships similar to what they have on the show! ^^. To **guest**: Sorry I couldn't directly reply to you. I think Lilly pays for her actions emotionally more than anything, but there will be other things. As for Duncan, like I said in the previous response, my ending for him is bittersweet and somewhat unsatisfying. However, I think it fits with this story's version of him. To **MSVasco**: Reviews like yours just make me want to fix my outline, in a good way haha. Fortunately, Logan is starting to think that Duncan isn't suited for Veronica. Unfortunately, Logan still thinks that he's not suited for her either. Fear not, there will still be flirty LoVe scenes because Logan is a flirt and Veronica can't resist him. I'm only half kidding about that last part. To **JeniLyn2000**: Lilly will be the main antagonist throughout the entire story up until either my story ends or I figure out the whole redemption thing. As such, there will be Lilly vs. Veronica centered events coming in the later chapter. Hurrah?

Also, I accidentally gave JeniLyn2000 a bad hint about who was important in helping Veronica figure out her rapist (I forgot that I changed that part of the storyline). Just. I'm sorry. ._. But here's the hint anyway for those who were curious: Why would I have Cassidy hide out in the computer lab? The answer to this was my way of introducing another important character. ^^

Sorry Veronica couldn't take immediately revenge on everyone. Trust me; I'm sad about that, too. But, she's a teenage girl with limited resources (for now) and it just wasn't feasible for her to make that leap (_for now_. And, what wasn't feasible and required a bit of hand waving was her getting her PI license and being able to fight despite barely just starting her tae kwon do lessons. But oh well…) I also realize this Veronica is more physically violent. However, in this story, she doesn't just find out she's been raped, she finds out that her friend betrayed her and drugged her, which led to her rape. Therefore, I think her anger and pain is more powerful. Her scene with Sean Friedrich was her making a point that she's not the same. That she's not just refusing to take it, she's actively fighting back. And, that they should be afraid.

I love the Duncan hate. But, I feel like you guys are going to hate _me_ once you see the shit he pulls. And I don't mean just the rumors about Veronica. He's not getting better, folks.

Fun fact: At first I planned to have Veronica avoid Logan until a few weeks into school when he forces her to talk to him after being assigned as project partners. But goshdarnit, Logan wouldn't stay put like a good little boy, so there you go.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: Veronica watches the security tapes. Papa Bear goes to school. Lilly and Veronica get confrontational.


	7. Chapter 7

**King of Mars**

A/N: We're finally breaking ground on season 1. Hurrah. Still AU, though. A sincere thank you to every reviewer and reader who made it this far with me. By my gauge, we're not even halfway done. So, buckle up. Thank you again and enjoy ^^. Though, I must warn you that this chapter may be taken down or revised heavily if I feel like some of it just doesn't fit right after I wake up (around eleven...).

Update: The ending scene has been revised.

Chapter 7

.

The light from her laptop screen flitted across her tired face as her eyes scanned the video for signs of herself or someone that didn't belong. The cup of coffee on her desk lay cold.

The Pomroys would be interested to know that their cameras had blind spots in various areas around the exterior of the house, so there was never a complete view of the outside area. And, they should probably consider investing in cameras for the inside of their house, too. Of course, if they did have better security inside their house, she wouldn't have been able to get the tapes as easily as she did.

She winced as she watched herself dance with Pam, a line of boys stood to leer at them lecherously. Fast forward and she was being used as a salt lick. Fast forward some more and Duncan was coming to her rescue. After that, she never saw herself on any of the tapes again until she eventually stumbled out into the pool area hours after she entered.

Duncan had told Logan that he left the party alone when he couldn't find Shelly. The time stamp on the surveillance tapes showed a time lapse of seven minutes and twenty six seconds from the time Duncan carried her inside to the time he left the main house. Was there enough time? Could he?... So far, he was the only person on her suspect list. She needed to interrogate him personally to know for sure. But, how could she? She was on the outs with most of the 09ers. And, quite frankly, he still unnerved her, and she was afraid her anxiety would make it exponentially worse. She would accept the answer he gave to his best friend as truth and leave him as a last resort when she exhausted all other means.

She had been looking through the tapes for weeks, but hadn't learned anything significant.

The first time she looked over the tapes, she took note of the people who walked in or out of the main house, each a potential suspect. But, she soon found the list of names useless as practically everyone had entered the house at least once to get alcohol after Duncan had left her there. And, from what she could tell, no one looked particularly 'rape-y'. While everyone had opportunity, who could have had motive?

Giving up on the tapes, she pulled up her file on Lilly. It contained all of the information she had gathered on Lilly. There were credit card statements, phone bills, and a few blacked out police reports she copied from the station. The missing pieces of information in her police records weren't too surprising. With Lilly's behavior and the Kane fortune, Veronica could just imagine the amount of money that exchanged hands to keep her records looking so modest and censored.

However, a background check using the PryingEyez database revealed that her criminal history wasn't the only thing that was covered up. Someone wanted to keep Lilly's birth records sealed. Whoever it was, they were definitely hiding something. To hide a possible adoption? Why else would her birth records be sealed? But, why would it matter?

Hooking up her camera to her laptop, she uploaded all of the newly acquired pictures she had taken from following Lilly earlier that night into a folder and dated it.

So far, all that she had managed to discover was that Lilly was guilty of hooking up with multiple boys on various occasions and repeatedly maxing out her credit cards. Some of the boys she had slept with had girlfriends, but Veronica had bigger things in mind for Lilly and would not be using the pictures against her… probably… yet? New to the game of underhandedness, Veronica was still not sure exactly how she would get revenge on Lilly. She wondered, would ruining Lilly's life at every chance she got count as adequate revenge or would it just come off as psychopathic? She saved the photos to keep her options open.

Finishing the transfer of pictures, she checked the time.

2:41 AM.

She usually went to sleep even later, but tomorrow was a school day. The first school day. She figured she'd need as much energy as possible to deal with the onslaught of people she would have to acclimatize herself to and their whispers.

It wouldn't be Neptune High if there weren't whispers.

.

Whatever she had steeled herself for that morning, this wasn't it. She was having a sensory overload. True, she had worked on improving her anxiety through a series of overexposure to people in public places; however, this was different. There were people here who had gone to the party. Her eyes would flicker in recognition at them, and she would instantly wonder if they were the ones who had violated her or if they saw something.

She repeated her mantra mentally. She could do this.

There was another surprise for her as she tried to maneuver her way through the students who loitered in the parking lot to catch up with friends. There was only minimal attention being paid to her. Instead, they seemed to be focused on the flagpole.

From her position behind the massive crowd and due to her small stature, she couldn't see why they were gathered around the flagpole. God, she hoped there weren't more of photoshopped pictures of her head on porn star bodies. She had had enough of them being posted in the newspaper under the classifieds section every week. Thanks to whoever's little stunt, she had to change her number so that the calls would stop coming every ten minutes. Even worse than the calls, her mother felt compelled to sit her down for the birds and the bees talk. As if a fake ad advertising her as a phone sex operator was a great segue for the sex talk.

She steadily made her way to the center only to find a naked boy about her age tied to the pole. The only thing that kept him from being truly naked was the tasteful positioning of the duct tape that held him captive.

The letters painted across his chest marked him as a snitch. He must have done something to piss off the PCHers. This was something they often did to people who displeased them.

She heard none of the taunts or chatter behind her as she took out her pocketknife. Always be prepared. That's the Girl Scout motto, right? Veronica wouldn't know. As a kid and as a young adult, she preferred spending her time eating cookies rather than selling them for ridiculous prizes.

Someone bumped into her shoulder in their haste to get a picture with the boy taped to the flagpole, and she momentarily froze. Her anxiety made her feel so helpless, and she hated it.

Gaining back her faculties, she icily demanded, "Move."

Belligerently, the boy Veronica didn't quite recognize asked, "Who died and made you the quee—"

His words died on his lips. But, he wasn't looking at the blade that Veronica gripped threateningly. Instead, his comically widened eyes were focused on a point just above and to the left of Veronica's shoulder. Exiting quickly, he frantically muttered, "Right. Sorry, my bad."

Turning around, she saw Logan whose entire body was tightly coiled. His fists were clenched and his muscles flexed. He looked every bit like a hired bodyguard. Her father would be proud to see someone else could match him in being overprotective towards her when he wasn't there.

With an amused tone, she said, "I could've handled things."

Relaxing his stance and holding up his hands innocently, Logan replied, "I didn't do anything."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. Even I felt bad for the guy. I could _feel_ the evil coming off of you. Excuse me while I do this_. _Excuse me while I go back to _handling it_."

Stepping forward, he placed his hand at the small of her back and turned her back around to face the boy on the flagpole. Gesturing to the boy and bowing, he humbly said, "By all means."

The boy looked warily down at Veronica as she approached him with the knife. His wariness quickly transformed to fear as Veronica's knife narrowly missed his finger.

"Careful!" He pleaded. He was tired, bruised, and just wanted to get down. He had been up there for over an hour as his peers gawked and jeered at him.

"Sorry about that," she said apologetically. While standing on the points of her toes, she was unsteady and couldn't properly wield her knife. Eying the concrete column on which the boy stood, she knew she shouldn't have chosen a jean skirt to wear that day. It matched her black boots and was an effective wardrobe choice for showing people she was no longer affiliated with Lilly. However, it was not very practical for climbing. He was smirking behind her, she just knew it. "Not one word…"

Laughing softly, he saw her dilemma and moved up to stand behind her. Holding her around the sides of her stomach, he lifted her up onto the column. His hands slid down to the sides of her thighs to prevent his arms from becoming tired as he made sure she was safe standing up there.

Towards the end of the summer, she noticed that her body never reacted when Logan was around. There were reactions, of course. Just not of the negative variety. She wanted to just chalk it up to being exposed to his presence so often over the course of the summer. But, that explanation sounded flimsy even to her ears. Still, Veronica didn't want to think too deeply about why her body didn't seem to mind when Logan touched her when it froze up just earlier. She was hesitant to tread down that path again.

She made quick work of the duct tape from her new position. Freeing him, she motioned for Logan to hand over his shirt. Momentarily removing his hands from their revered position, Logan unbuttoned his shirt and handed the dark grey button down over to her. He stood nonchalantly in a white undershirt and jeans, looking like an Abercrombie & Fitch model. Not that she noticed.

"You're new here, huh? Welcome to Neptune High," she said distractedly.

Wallace said nothing in return; ashamed for being in that position and having to be rescued by people he only just met. He tied Logan's shirt around his waist to cover the more inappropriately exposed regions of his body. The bikers had taken his bag along with his gym clothes, and he dreaded going to the office and explaining his immediate need for clothes to his mother.

She helped him down and gave him a sympathetic smile. "Head through the main doors and walk straight down to get to the office. I would wait until the coast is clear. First period on the first day of school can wait."

The bell rang and Logan gently tugged at her wrist to head in the direction of the school building. With the show over and classes starting, the crowd also began dispersing.

With fake enthusiasm, she cheered to the now only half-naked boy, "Go Pirates!" And walked off with Logan.

Out of earshot, Logan whispered to Veronica, "Tell the truth. How disappointed were you that I had something on underneath?"

.

At lunch, she was finally greeted with the reaction she had been expecting. Without a naked boy to distract them, she was back to being the talk of the school.

The only change in her demeanor that even remotely showed that she was affected by the whispers, stares, and blatant pointing was the tightening of her grip on her paper bagged lunch. Otherwise, she appeared to easily make her way to her lunch table. Her lunch table that happened to be positioned right outside the area where the 09ers sat.

It was the perfect spot to show Lilly that she was not going away just because Lilly dismissed her. She enjoyed the way Lilly's mouth hung open a slight fraction before going back to simultaneously pretending that Veronica didn't exist and insulting her with the other 09ers.

She caught sight of Dick, but no Cassidy, sitting with his arm around Madison. He gave her a half smile in apology. Madison must've taken him back again. She wasn't too disappointed that he wasn't sitting with her. She had expected it to happen.

"You okay?"

She jumped in her seat. It was an unfamiliar voice, and she whipped her head around to locate the source. She relaxed slightly, recognizing the person as the boy she had helped earlier that morning.

"Whoa. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Wallace Fennel." He held out his hand for her to shake.

Expecting his savior to be sweet and sugary, his hand immediately dropped to his side when he heard her harshly reply, "Did I say you could sit here?"

Starting to back away from the seemingly disturbed girl, he hung his head in regret.

Feeling guilty for snapping at the new kid, she softly said, "Wait a minute. Of course you can sit here. Sit wherever you want. I'm Veronica. Veronica Mars."

He sat down. "That was cool, Veronica Mars. What you did, cutting me off of that pole."

Her response was cut off by the sudden appearance of the leader of the PCH bike gang, Eli 'Weevil' Navarro. She'd seen him a few times while she was down at the station with her father either behind bars or visiting a friend who was behind bars.

Getting close to Wallace's face, Weevil gruffly said, "My bitch. Weren't you supposed to wait for me at the flagpole? I'm not sure I could have made that any clearer."

Veronica instantly pitied Wallace. She could tell he was afraid and was failing at hiding his fear.

Uncomfortably, he said, "Okay, I get it, a'right. Very funny. I guess we're even now. Right?"

Curling his lip, Weevil aggressively replied, "You get what boy? You get that you're a dead man walking, is that what you get?"

Not able to withhold her outrage at his actions, Veronica firmly demanded, "Leave him alone."

Weevil's eyes pierced into her, but she didn't waver. Grinning mirthlessly, he moved to stand over her. His close proximity was what Veronica had been practicing all summer to get over. So far, the practice was paying off. It was particularly easy since he wasn't touching her. There were no obvious signs of her distress over his presence.

"Sister," he began, "The only time I care what a woman has to say is when she's riding my big old hog but even then it's not so much words, just a bunch of oohs and aahs, you know?"

Affecting an air of confidence she didn't completely possess, she casually took her sandwich out of her paper bag and asked, "So it's big, huh?"

Smugly, he answered, "Legendary."

"Well let's see it. I mean if it's as big as you say, I'll be your girlfriend." With exaggerated girlishness, she continued, "We could go to prom together."

Weevil laughed, impressed by her gutsiness.

"What? What seems to be the problem? I'm on a schedule here, vato." She took a bite out of her sandwich for emphasis.

A person from Weevil's gang steps up, it's Felix Toombs. Another regular down at the station. He loudly shouted, "Dude, Weevil. Don't let blondie talk to you like that!"

Tilting her head and placing a finger on her lips, she said, "Sounds like your buddy here wants to see it, too."

Agitated, Felix said, "Ah, hell, I'll show you mine."

He approached Veronica and dropped his hands to the front of his pants. Before he was able to pull down the zipper, he was stopped by a new figure.

"Oh goodie, lunch and a show? You'll spoil me, Veronica."

"Let go of me, pretty boy."

"Gladly. And, I'm flattered. Really. But you're not my type." Logan released Felix's arm and wiped his hand using the napkin Veronica handed him.

Weevil spoke from his position over Veronica, "Try to be smart for once and leave, Echolls. Mind your own business."

"Hey, Veronica. Is he bothering you?"

"Just my nose. Someone's got a love affair with too much cologne."

Logan chuckled. "As a gentleman, it's my duty to remove bothersome _things_ from a lady's presence. So, that makes it my business."

Irked by Logan's interference, Weevil tried to maintain his cool. "I don't have a problem with your girl."

"I'm not his girl."

Logan ignored Veronica protest and spoke with a low voice, "It doesn't look that way to me."

Straightening to his full height, Weevil faced Logan. "Look. Just walk away."

"Or what?" Logan smirked. He was still taller than the PCHer.

Matching Logan's tone, he said, "You don't have your action hero daddy here to protect you."

"If you two are done with your little pissing contest, I'd like to direct your attention stage right." She pointed to their fast approaching school official.

Vice Principal Van Clemmons had been making rounds when he stumbled onto the tête-à-tête between the son of Hollywood royalty and the criminal element of his fair school. "Gentlemen," his voice boomed. "Is there a problem?"

Affixing a smile on his face, Logan answered, "On the first day of school? Heaven forbid."

Sighing, Clemmons pinched the bridge of his nose. He wouldn't get anywhere with either of them. "Very well. Move it along."

Before leaving, Weevil turned to Wallace and said, "This isn't over."

Veronica smiled grimly and said, "Chills."

"I'm a dead man walking. I'm dead," Wallace stated.

Logan sat down and snatched Veronica's sandwich from her.

Veronica asked, "Can't you order your own food?"

He waved her off. "Food tastes better when it's made with love."

"I wonder how it'll taste when I make it with poison. I guess I can just ask you one of these days." She pulled out an extra plastic wrapped turkey sandwich from her canvas satchel. "That's for you, thief. And you, what did you do?"

She watched as Logan pushed the sandwich back toward her and childishly took a bite out of her partially eaten sandwich instead.

Concentrated on his demise, Wallace confusedly asked, "What?"

She stuck her tongue out at Logan before responding, "Why are you a dead man walking?"

Wallace relayed his story about how he was working a late night shift at the Sac-N-Pac when a couple of guys came in. He didn't know they were part of the PCHers or who the PCHers were at the time. He just did what the training video told him to and pressed the silent alarm when they left without paying for some beer. Then later, some cop was in his face trying to get him to incriminate the two handcuffed bikers. He was afraid of what the handcuffed guys' friends would do to him if he did, so he said it was accident. But, the cop just took the surveillance tape as evidence, told him to go see the wizard, and left. The next thing he knew, he was up on the pole.

"We don't have police here. We have a Sheriff's department. But, I see your problem."

"Yeah," he said contemplatively.

Taking a bite from her new sandwich, she asked, "Did the deputy who took the tapes look like a slightly younger Adam Newman from _The Young and the Restless_?"

Logan quirked an eyebrow at Veronica. "You watch _The Young and the Restless_?"

Veroinca shushed him.

"Yeah. Now that you mention it. He kinda does. Do you know him?"

Veronica vaguely answered, "Yeah. I know him."

Snorting, Logan asked Wallace, "_You _watch _The Young and the Restless_?"

"My mom likes to watch it," Wallace said defensively.

"No one's judging, man," he laughed.

"Don't mind him. _His_ mother makes himwatch _Days of Our Lives_."

.

Veronica sat in her spinning chair and swung her legs as she sorted the new police reports into alphabetical order. Since she was at the station so often, her father had hired her as an assistant to help out the receptionist, Inga Olofson.

A flutter of papers landing on the desk in front of her alerted her to the presence of one Cliff McCormack.

"Veronica."

"Cliffy."

"Is your father in?"

"No, he's out on patrol with D'Amato."

"That's good. Good."

She raised an eyebrow in interest. "So did you need something? Or did you just swing by to say hi to little old me?"

"A little bit of both. I hear things, V."

"Congratulations for avoiding one of the pit traps of old age."

"I'm not a day over forty."

"Right. Didn't you and my dad graduate the same year in high school?"

"Let's not get into this now. I came here because I heard some things that were interesting, let's say."

"What kind of interesting things?"

"Just talk about some blonde Vinnie's been seen with."

Flatly, Veronica asked, "What do you want?"

"I'm hurt. You know, I remember holding the camera when your dad gave you baths."

"That's more disturbing than what I'm willing to deal with right now. But now that you've made it clear that you know, and I know you know I don't want a certain someone to find out what you know. What do you want?"

He slid his file towards her. "My client, Loretta Cancun, dances at the Seventh Veil—"

"A working girl. Respect."

"These are my people, V. She was busted for vandalism, taking a baseball bat to the washing machine that stole her quarters at Suds-N-Duds."

"And you want me to make sure they get her good side when they bring her in?"

Pretending she didn't interrupt him, he continued, "Miss Cancun says the Seventh Veil has an interesting way of keeping their liquor license despite their rather lax ID policy. She wants to make a deal. But they don't feel like they can trust her, so they won't make a deal without evidence."

"They don't trust her? But she's got such a colorful rap sheet."

Ignoring her again, he powered on, "I want to acquire Vinnie's skill set without acquiring Vinnie."

"You want me to get the evidence to help her?"

"I didn't say that. And, if your father asks, I can honestly say I didn't say that. I'm just going to leave the file here. Tell your dad I'll see him Saturday night for poker."

Slipping the manila folder into her satchel, she exclaimed, "Hey! He told me you guys switched to playing blackjack."

"And you told us you weren't a card shark."

.

Later that night, Veronica was sitting across the street from the Seventh Veil in her LeBaron studying for her calculus test. She was waiting for a couple of _very _important patrons to leave the infamous night club where the girls were easy and the guys weresleazy.

A loud rumbling broke her focus. She didn't have to wonder what it was for too long before motorcycles quickly surrounded her car.

Weevil didn't get off his bike, but he stopped in the middle of the street a few feet away from her car window. He asked, "Car trouble, miss?"

She stayed silent, weighing her options.

"It seems to me like a pretty little girl like you is on the wrong side of the tracks."

Making up her mind, she looked at him with her head tilted in mock confusion and she asked, "And I suppose you're here to escort me back home?"

He chuckled, "You act like some you're tough chick—"

"I am tough."

"Right," he said sarcastically. "As I was saying. You act like you're some tough chick, _but_ we all know you go crying to your daddy just like the rest of them."

Opening her car door, she stepped out. She hoped that neither Gills nor Lamb would come out until after she was finished sending the PCHers on their way.

Weevil waited to see what she would do next. She intrigued him.

With her hand on her hip, she said, "How about I give you boys a free pass then? I promise not to tell my father, _the sheriff_, about this little conversation, and you leave that kid at school alone."

"Not good enough."

"Then what do you want?"

"To negotiate something that'll help my friends and your new friend."

Felix got off his bike and stepped towards Veronica. "Hey, Weevil. Can't we 'negotiate' like we always do? Ain't nobody here to protect her."

He got approximately five feet within reaching distance of her when a large mass of brown ran jumped from Veronica's car window and rushed him to the ground. Felix shouted as Backup sunk his teeth into the leg of the boy who threatened his master.

Smirking, Veronica said, "Yeah. Did I say I was alone?"

Losing all amusement at her novel behavior, Weevil moved forward to grab her. But, she predicted his move and already had her taser out.

She pressed a button, and it crackled and sparked menacingly. She would use it if he gave her reason to, and he knew it. She said, "I wouldn't get any closer if I were you."

Not really wanting to get into it when he only came to talk, he put his hands up to surrender and said, "Alright. Just call off your dog."

"Backup! Chill!"

Backup immediately abandoned the boy he was playing with and padded over to Veronica, nudging her hand so that she would pet him for a job well done.

Indulgently, she scratched behind his ear and said, "Who's a good boy? You are. yes, you are. Do you want a treat to wash out that taste of underachieving lowlife from your mouth? I bet you do. I'll give you one as soon as we get home."

Weevil rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. "Blondie. Focus."

"I'm sorry. I thought I already proved to you that your 'negotiation' tactics won't work on me."

"Yeah. We get it. You're tough. We're sorry."

"I want to hear him apologize," she grinned deviously.

Felix didn't look like he was going to apologize, but Weevil shot him a look.

"I'm sorry," he said reluctantly.

"Great. Backup's sorry, too. Aren't you, cutie?"

Backup growled at Felix in response.

Clearing his throat, Weevil spoke again, "Now that we're all friends here, can we get back to business? We knew your father's the sheriff. If you can get him to let our boys walk, we might find it in our hearts to forgive your boy."

"Why do you care if they go to jail?"

"Why do you care about that kid?"

"He's a potential friend."

"They're my boys."

She nodded her head, "Give me a week."

Nodding once back at her, he signaled for his gang that it was time to leave. Felix walked slowly to his bike as if in pain.

Before he rode off to join them, Weevil blew her a kiss and said, "When you're tired of that white boy, remember; Weevil love you long time."

It looked like she was going to have to ask for a few favors and break a few laws to help Wallace out. He better be a damn good friend.

.

In his home gym, Logan took out his frustration on the already worn punching bag that hung from steel chains. While giving him a warm welcome, they cast Veronica looks of disgust. He knew that they wouldn't be kind to her, but he still felt incredibly angry about how they were handling her situation and the rumors.

He pummeled the bag a few more times to rid himself of his nervous energy. Hearing his phone ring, he stopped. It was the dead of night, and there was only one person who would call and risk disrupting his sleep.

"Who do I have to thank for the pleasure of this booty call?"

"Nice try, Logan."

"Oh, it's you. Hey."

"Yeah, hey."

"So, what do you want?"

"Why do you think I want something?"

"I can hear you tilting your head over the phone."

"You got me. I need you to pick something up from Jonathon Douglas tomorrow before school."

"Who?"

"Right, you weren't here before that happened. Corny."

"Uh-huh. And what will you be doing?"

"Obtaining an alibi?"

"Of course."

"Thanks, Logan. I owe you. Goodnight."

"Will I ever have the privilege of collecting on one of these favors?"

"Probably not."

"Probably... So, my dream lives on."

Laughing, she said, "Goodnight, Logan."

He smiled. "Night."

.

The next day at lunch, Veronica sat with Logan at the same table from yesterday. Tad, Carmen's boyfriend, dropped by on his way to the 09er tables to try to separate Carmen from Veronica. Veronica had the pleasure of watching Carmen tell her boyfriend off before she went to spend some time with the other soccer girls.

Like the day before, Wallace sat down across from Veronica. "Girl, you should hear what people say about you."

Logan glared at Wallace for bringing it up but doesn't say anything. She made it clear she didn't want him treating her like she was made of glass.

Only mildly offended, Veronica asked, "So then what are you doing sitting here?"

Addressing Veronica, Wallace answered, "Well, I figure I've got a choice. I can either go hang out with the punks who laughed at me, took pictures of me while I was taped to that flagpole, or I can hang out with the chick who cut me down." With an amused glance at Logan, he added, "And her boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Disbelieving, Wallace said, "Right. My bad."

Rolling her eyes, she moved on, "So you want to get the PCH Bike Club off your ass?"

"It's okay. You already did enough. This is my problem."

"Actually, last night, it kinda became my problem, too."

Logan tensed, "What happened last night?"

"Tell you later," she promised. "I have a plan."

Wallace shivered. "Why did I just get chills?"

"Because you're too suspicious."

Curious, Logan asked, "Does your plan have anything to do with the phallic themed smoking device you made me get for you this morning?"

She shushed him. "You're ruining the surprise."

Quietly explaining her plan to both boys, she told them that if they wanted to catch the show, they should get out of sixth period a little early today.

.

The bell rang promptly at 2:36 PM, and the hordes of students left their classes just in time to see Lilly Kane's walk of shame.

Veronica leaned against the cool metal of the lockers in the main hallway. She forced Logan to watch from around the corner with Wallace; so that if they got caught, neither of them would be suspects. It took a lot of convincing for Logan to agree.

In her pleated red skirt and black halter top, Lilly Kane was escorted down the hall to the squad car waiting for her in the parking lot. Spotting Veronica, she struggled against Deputy Sacks' hold to reach her. "I don't know how, and I don't care. But I know it was you."

Veronica blew her a kiss, imitating Weevil's parting gift. "Missed you, too, bestie."

.

She could've gotten the tapes without planting the bong in Lilly's locker, but killing two birds with one stone was so much more satisfying. To her, that act christened the start of her personal war against Lilly.

Wallace and Veronica sat in her car in the parking lot of the sheriff's station.

Finally speaking up, Wallace asked, "So, what do you have against that girl?"

"What do you mean?"

"You and that girl you got arrested. Do you guys not like each other or something?"

"Or something." She offered nothing else as explanation. "It's almost time. Are you ready?"

"We could get in trouble for this."

"Should I call Weevil up and tell him to bring extra tape tomorrow?"

"I'm gonna do it. I just thought one of us should state the obvious."

Hitting one of the buttons on the control, Wallace shook his head.

"I wonder if it worked," he wondered.

The fire alarms started going off in the station, and she responded, "Probably."

"So what do we do now?"

"We? We do nothing. I'm giving you the tape as soon as I get it and you're going to handle Weevil and whatever happens after that."

"You're going to leave me alone with those bikers?"

"They're harmless."

"They taped me to a flagpole."

"You're still on that? Man, you gotta learn to let things go." Seeing the concern on his face, Veronica softened. "Look. You've got nothing to be afraid of. You have the upper hand."

"Alright, but I expect you to come early everyday until this is over just in case."

"What are friends for?"

Veronica dropped him off at home and went back to the station to help Inga tidy up after the visit from the fire department.

She would visit Fireman Bill on the weekend to pick up the tape.

.

Exactly one week after meeting the PCHers at night, Veronica ran into some more trouble after school. Lilly just got back from her 'voluntary leave of absence', so she really should have seen it coming.

It was just after soccer practice, and Veronica volunteered to be on equipment duty while their equipment manager was out sick as her way of apologizing for not joining last season. She quickly dragged the unwieldy net of soccer balls behind her. Logan was waiting for her by the equipment shed to take her home since someone decided to let the air out of one her tires. That should've been her first sign that today was not going to be good.

"You think you're so smart, don't you?"

She stopped pulling on the net and dropped her hands to her side. Turning to address the voice, she said, "Actually, I think I'm cute, too."

Lilly stepped out of the John Enbom's dark green Jeep. Behind her, were John, Dick, Madison, and Pam. In the familiar SUV next to her were Duncan, Luke, Cole, and Troy. They, too, got out.

Noticing their reluctance to step past where Lilly stood, Veronica thought, Lilly had trained them well.

Lilly then walked deliberately towards Veronica and circled around her like a predator stalking its prey. She asked, "You know what your little stunt cost me?"

Not one to back down, Veronica answered, "Well, I'm pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back."

A sharp crack sounded through the air, and Veronica stared at Lilly. Stunned. Lilly had slapped her.

Lilly smiled smugly. "Wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?"

She gritted, "Clearly, your sanity."

Lilly raised her hand to slap Veronica again, but Veronica was ready for her. She grabbed Lilly's arm and held it tightly to keep her still. She slapped Lilly harder across her face and took pleasure in the satisfying sound of skin hitting skin that rang through the air once more. Twisting her arm, she threw her forcibly back into her adoring crowd. Lilly stumbled ungracefully before landing in a pathetic heap a few feet away from Veronica and in between John and Duncan. Touching Lilly elicited a much stronger reaction than she expected, so she had no choice but to let her go. It was a shame.

Lilly whimpered at their feet. Duncan went to help his sister up, but she pushed him away and glared at Veronica.

Veronica returned Lilly's furious gaze.

The other girls were scared and took a few steps back. Apparently, their loyalty lasted only up until they had to actually do something to prove their loyalty.

John flinched but otherwise stood motionless.

Luke looked nauseated. He didn't even want to be here. He actually liked Veronica as a friend.

Dick watched Veronica, slack jawed. He couldn't move out of shock. Madison threatened to break up with him if he didn't come to support Lilly, but he only really agreed to make sure that things didn't get too out of hand. Obviously, he failed. Hearing about Veronica's more violent side and bearing witness to it were two entirely different things. It was no longer a wonder why Sean didn't want to come with them.

Breaking out of his stupor, Troy shouted, "What the shit, you crazy bitch?!"

Now turning her eyes onto Troy, she folded her arms across her chest and laughed hollowly. "Uh, did you really think I wouldn't fight back?"

From the ground, Lilly spat, "Well, it wouldn't be fun if you didn't. John, get me the crowbar from your car. We'll call it self defense."

John didn't move.

Veronica's breath hitched. She wasn't _that_ good at fighting.

Dick stiffened. He didn't know what to do. He still hadn't moved since Veronica shoved Lilly. Somehow Madison had gotten next to him and put his arm in a vice grip. Her nails dug into his skin, but he didn't feel it. He was at a lost.

"John!" Lilly yelled.

John scrambled out of his motionless state and handed her the crowbar.

It barely touched her fingertips when another hand lifted it out of her grasp.

.

Eerily calm, he asked, "Now, what do we have here?" Logan twirled the crowbar in his hands. He had heard some unusual noises coming from the soccer field and expected the worst.

Dick finally moved from his position to attempt to calm Logan. He could tell that Logan was livid. The situation could turn really bad. "Logan—" He got out, faltering when Logan spoke again.

"Are you guys fucking kidding me?!" He shouted angrily. "Is this a joke to you all? Were you guys just going to let Lilly go to town on Veronica with a _crowbar_?"

Lilly was the only who answered him. She narrowed her eyes and said, "She got my car taken away."

"So what? You were going to take away her legs to even the score? Hmm?" Turning to the rest of them, he asked, "And I guess you guys were going to watch?"

Luke spoke this time. Nervously, he said, "We wouldn't have let it get that far."

"Well I'm going to make sure no one ever gets the _chance,"_ he said threateningly. "If you mess with Veronica, you mess with me. Whoever doesn't like that can just fuck off and leave while I'm still feeling _nice_." He tightened his grip on the crowbar.

No one moved for one painstakingly long moment. Then, Dick broke the spell.

He loosened Madison's grip on his arm and walked up to Logan. They shared a look of regret and understanding before Dick moved to Veronica's side. They, too, shared a look. He remained silent until finally saying, "Sorry, Ronnie."

Veronica nodded at him, acknowledging that he chose to be on her side. Whatever that meant. She was busy analyzing the situation, and things did not look good.

Madison's shrill voice rang through everyone. "Dick? What do you think you're doing?!"

"Picking a side."

Madison's mouth fell open. She huffed before gathering her thoughts. Smirking, she resorted to her usual methods of getting Dick to obey her. "If you pick them, we're over."

Shrugging with a casualness that belied the turmoil he felt at losing her, he said, "Then we're over."

Madison paled as Pam silently documented the breakup to relay to the other girls later.

Logan clapped him on the back and morosely addressed the group again, "Anyone else feel like having a change of heart?" He stared straight into Duncan's eyes, willing him to stand by him instead of his sister and essentially against him.

Finding her voice, Lilly said, "They're not stupid enough to listen to you. Except for Dick, obviously. As long as we stick together, we outnumber you."

Breaking his stare with Duncan, Logan responded with an accompanying flick of his hand, "If any of your lackeys think they can take me, they can go ahead and try. I won't even use the crowbar for old time's sake."

The crowbar clanged ominously as it hit the floor. The silence that followed made the ensuing cacophony of motorcycle engines that much louder.

The large group of PCHers got off their bike.

The 09er girls were visibly scared, and Veronica held her breath. This could go either way depending on whether or not Loretta Cancun had her day in court.

Weevil called out, "Hey, blondie. Are these your friends?"

She audibly let out her breath. Stepping out from behind Logan who instinctively moved to hide her, she affected a casual tone and followed his lead, "Friends? No. Not even close." Seeing Lilly and her followers collectively pale at her words gave her more pleasure than she would have liked to admit.

He smiled winningly, "You won't mind if my boys play with them for a while then?"

"They're all yours. But, be careful, you don't know where they've been." Her last line was courtesy of overhearing Lilly loudly whisper to Madison about her behind her back.

Eager to turn the tides once more, Lilly strutted towards suggestively Weevil and said, "Look. We don't have a problem with you." Whispering in his ear, she added, "Don't you think we can negotiate something else instead?"

Taking a large step back from the Kane heiress, Weevil brushed off the shoulder of his favorite leather jacket where Lilly touched him. He had seen girls like her before. She was the type to use them and lose them, and he wasn't looking to be used. Loudly, he stated, "That's where you're wrong. That's where you're all wrong."

The bikers stood in solidarity behind him and awaited his command in silence.

He continued speaking, "You all need to leave. Now."

Shocked and irritated that she wasn't able to seduce him and realizing the hopelessness of the situation, Lilly stomped back to John's Jeep. Before leaving, she sneered, "I'll catch you later, Veronica. Count on it."

Logan frowned. Duncan had driven off, refusing to meet his eye. He chose his side, Logan thought regretfully. Though, he was also becoming increasingly troubled. What the fuck was happening to the people around him?

Tiredly, Veronica said, "You realize everyone's going to be hearing about how I've slept with all of you by tomorrow, right?"

"They don't have to be just rumors," Weevil replied with a smirk.

Stepping once more in front of her, Logan shot Weevil a warning look.

Veronica rolled her eyes at his display of masculinity.

Chuckling, Weevil spoke to Veronica through her human shield. "It's funny, you know? My boys called me up today and said the tapes just went poof. You know anything about that?"

Logan turned and lifted his eyebrow questioningly at her. It must have been the other part of her plan that she hadn't told him about.

Moving to Logan's side, she replied, "No. That's really fortunate, though, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Real fortunate."

"But, I guess that makes us square, too."

"Once you give me the tape."

"You didn't talk to Wallace first?"

"Who's Wallace?"

"The guy you taped to the flagpole, genius."

"I don't need to know the names of the people who piss me off."

"Of course not. But, you should start treating him nicer."

"And why is that?"

"He's got the tape."

Dumbfounded, he stared at her. He wagged his finger and shook his head at her. "You are a real piece of work."

"Admit it. You're a little impressed."

He laughed and signaled for the other bikers that their business here was done. He'd have to find out where this Wallace lived. Mounting his bike, he replied, "Yeah. Something like that."

"It's never a dull moment with you two, is it?" Dick asked.

"It's good to have you back, man." Hitting the back of Dick's head, he added, "Figure things out quicker next time."

Dick smiled grimly. "Yeah." He didn't really register the pain Logan just inflicted on him. Instead, he was busy thinking. There was no chance Madison was going to take him back now. And, he didn't know exactly how to feel about that. But, he couldn't just keep letting them treat Ronnie like that for no reason. They were being ridiculous. Madison was being ridiculous. So, he resolved to move on from the past. Was he a free man now? Or, was he just lost?

.

Like most Saturday nights, Veronica's father was having at Bill's house with his other buddies, and her mother was out with her girlfriends. So, Veronica had the house to herself. Until, she got bored and ended up calling Logan over.

He showed up on her doorstep a half hour later with a stack of Clint Eastwood movies in one hand and a bag of Chinese takeout in the other. This was about as normal as Veronica's life got nowadays. Which was pretty normal considering the fact that she regularly snuck out at night for lessons with Vinnie. Logan was dressed casually in jeans and an olive colored henley, but she still felt very under dressed standing in her tshirt and pajama shorts. She was severely tempted to go to her room to change, but didn't once she figured he wouldn't be able to see her anyway since they'd be watching movies in the dark.

They were currently in the middle of their second Clint Eastwood movie.

He had been sitting there quietly for the past hour or so, not really focusing on the movie. Musing out loud, Logan muttered, "I might have to put a collar on you."

Veronica turned her attention away from watching _The Good, the Bad and the Ugly_ and asked, "What?" She was lying spread out on her couch with him sitting cramped at the very edge.

"A collar."

Still confused, she repeated. "What?"

"You need a collar, so I can protect you."

"I don't want you to have to protect me, Logan."

"But you need me to."

"Do you and Dick take turns playing overprotective father figure? Cause you should know I already have one, and he's doing a fantastic job of it."

"He can't keep an eye on you all the time."

"So you volunteered to pick up the slack?"

"See it however you want. It won't change the situation," he said stubbornly.

"I'm sorry. I'm being rude. Should I sit up so you and your ego can fit on the couch?" She sat up and tugged on both of his arms to pull him to the center of the couch. "There. How's that?"

.

He looked at her as if he were deciding something important. His eyes darkened, and his voice grew serious. "You _should_ be more aware of yourself. You're always putting yourself in dangerous situations."

He was not betraying Duncan. Duncan betrayed him. Duncan betrayed Veronica. Duncan didn't deserve Veronica. Duncan chose Lilly, he reminded himself. Who was his sister, he added bitterly. Lilly was acting crazy, but she was still his sister. Inwardly sighing, Logan knew that Duncan didn't really have an easy decision to make. However, Duncan still made a decision. Duncan had a choice.

He pushed thoughts about Duncan, loyalty, and whether or not _he_ deserved Veronica to the back of his mind. There was no room for his insecurities and Duncan on this couch.

It was just him and Veronica.

Logan finished making his own decision.

"I don't exactly send out invitations. _They_ came looking for _me_."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah. I think I would've remembered writing 'Feel free to ambush me on the soccer field. And, bring your goons. XOXO, Veronica'."

Logan turned his body completely to face her. He pointed to himself and then to her and queried, "Then what about now?"

She was sitting less than a foot away from him, easily within arm's reach. "What _about_ now?"

He closed the distance between them and brushed her hair away from her neck. "You invited _me_ over."

She scooted away from him, stopping only when her back hit the arm of the soda. "So what? You've been over lots of times before. And, you're not dangerous."

"You called me over _after nine at night_," he clarified. He followed her, both now occupying just one of the seats.

She looked anywhere but at his face. What had gotten into him? Knitting her eyebrows together, she explained, "I got bored around eight thirty."

He leaned forward, his hands landing on the armrest behind her to keep himself up. She leaned back. Push and pull. "Stop. You're going to fall."

Her body immediately obeyed his words. The traitor. She was now closer than should be appropriate for friends. But that was the point, wasn't it? Was it?

Smiling at her, he continued, "We're all alone in your house."

She eyed the arms that had possessively caged her. She should've run away long before but didn't. She didn't want to. "We've hung out alone before."

Dropping his head close to her ear, he whispered, "All the lights are off."

Trying to diffuse whatever situation she had somehow got herself in, she said, "I don't know how you watch movies, but this is normal."

He laughed thickly, and her eyes finally jumped to his bobbing adam's apple. "I'm a teenage boy."

With his heady scent enveloping her, her senses were overloaded. Slowly, she responded. "And, I'm a teenage girl."

"So then you know." He brought his hand up to her neck to brush away the stubbornly errant lock of hair that liked to stay curved along the hollow of her neck.

She could easily escape now while he toyed with the other wayward strands of hair at her neck. He was off guard. But she still didn't. Her eyes that had moments ago been focused on his throat, jumped to his eyes. He must have sensed the shift in her attention because he instantly looked back into her eyes. Holding his gaze, she asked, "Know?" It was something of a challenge she hadn't meant to issue, but it was too late to take it back now.

"What happens next," he said confidently.

He moved his face closer to her, and she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he pressed his cheek against hers and nuzzled her. Ignoring the small disappointment that rose within her, she noticed that the stubble on his chin tickled her slightly.

"I think I missed that part in class." She surprised herself with her response. Apparently she had enough of her bearings for a flippant reply.

Still sounding slightly petulant despite the unmistakable huskiness in his voice, he warned, "Don't play coy, bobcat. There are three things embarrassingly obvious here. One, I like you. Two, I'm going to kiss you. And three, you're going to like it. A lot. But I'm going to give you one last chance to run away."

Though, really, there was no turning back now. They were down the rabbit hole.

After a pause, he backed off slightly, giving her a few more inches of space. Gauging her reaction, he saw her clear, blue eyes reflected anticipation and no signs of protest. The rest of her remained still. Dropping his gaze to her lips again, he noticed they were slightly parted just like how they were approximately one year ago before Duncan interrupted them so brutally.

Her body adjusted itself ever so slightly, barely raising herself in her seat. It was enough for him. And, remembering the kiss that wasn't, he instantly captured her soft lips and closed the gap between them. He wasn't going to miss his chance twice.

She gasped softly in surprise at the sudden but quite honestly not unexpected contact. She hesitated for one split second before responding earnestly.

He had planned to take things painfully slow on his part because he didn't want to scare her off. But, those plans flew out the window at her eager response. More so, her contented mewls gave him courage and emboldened him. He ran his tongue over her bottom lip and nipped at it tenderly.

She felt self conscious and inexperienced against him but answered his unspoken question by parting her lips. When he claimed her mouth as his, she didn't have the luxury or wherewithal to focus on her worries. She could only think to give in to him.

He wanted her closer. And, she apparently seemed to want the same because her arms wrapped themselves tightly around his neck, further molding her body to his. Her fingers tangled themselves in his hair.

Nibbling playfully at her pouty bottom lip, he wondered briefly if she could feel the evidence of how turned on he was. She was hot to the touch everywhere, and his body burned. It took all of his willpower not to take things further. Instead, he poured all his sexual frustration into kissing her with renewed vigor.

They needed oxygen all too soon.

Very reluctantly extracting himself from her, he panted. "I think we just proved my point." A little more proving, and they were going to have a problem. He looked at her swollen lips and disheveled appearance. She was pouting cutely at him, and he shifted slightly in his seat. Muscles taut, he willed himself to calm down.

She made a small sound of disappointment, noticing that he had stopped. Sulking childishly, she asked, "What?" Her lips tingled pleasantly. More than anything, she just wanted him to shut up and kiss her again.

"You definitely need a collar if you keep putting yourself in these situations."

Gaining control of her brain once more, she smacked him on his shoulder. "Oh, yeah. It's _my_ fault you decided to attack me."

He dropped a quick kiss to her collar bone before jumping out of hitting distance. "_Seduce_ you. But, yes, it is your fault."

Mocking his words from earlier, she folded her arms across her chest and said, "How? _You're_ the teenage boy."

His eyes sparkled mischievously. She was going to kill him, but he couldn't resist playing with such lovely fire. "You're right," he agreed, pretending to be surprised at the revelation. "And, _you're_ the teenage girl… I like where you're going with this so far."

In Logan's coaxing embrace, Veronica found reprieve from the trauma she tried so hard to box up in her mind but would never let herself truly forget about. Well, for that one blissful moment and the equally perfect moments that immediately followed at least.

By the time Keith came back, they were sitting a respectable distance apart on the couch; their fingertips just barely grazing out of view as Keith meaningfully asked if Logan should be getting home now.

.

Lilly looked at herself in the mirror and seethed. Her porcelain skin was stained with an ugly bruise on her knee from when Veronica pushed her.

She cursed herself for crying when she got home that day.

She cursed Weevil for choosing Veronica. She cursed Dick for choosing Veronica. She cursed Logan for choosing Veronica. She cursed Veronica for _being_ Veronica and for taking more people away from her. Never mind that she didn't care for these people. She was queen, and they belonged to her by law. They were her toys. They were _all_ her toys, and she wasn't done playing with them yet when Veronica snatched them away.

Wiping all traces of real human emotion from her eyes, she did her makeup and called someone who _was _interested in her negotiation skills.

A little revenge never hurt. Not her, anyway. Not this time.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To **JeniLyn2000**: Sean's apology video makes a small appearance in later chapter when it becomes useful. To **SilverLining2k6**: For those awaiting Madison's return as a main feature in the chapters, I'm estimating it to happen in chapter 10. Coincidentally, chapter 10 is set right around the time of Madison and Mac's birthday. Hmm… To **SugarpussLoVe**: Sorry I couldn't reply to you directly ._. I left a reply in the review page though. To **guest**: You really want Veronica's dad to find out she's been raped? That's new haha. I'm working on something for that though. Also. To **guest1 **and **Nichole**:Ask and ye shall receive yet again. Or, you know, wait until it coincidentally happens in my chapters, too. Sorry it's not that a public dumping and she totally deserved worse. But, Dick still likes her, so what can you do? To **alisosia**:Slight appearance of her taser coincidentally already written in. Haha, you guys are really good at suggesting things I already planned to write about. No beat downs in the immediate future for Duncan unfortunately. To **guest2**: Bizarre dream? I lift my eyebrow in amusement and curiosity to you, good sir/madam haha. To **everyone who was waiting for Logan to ditch Duncan and go for Veronica**: Partway there on both fronts. Because Veronica needs a little bit more persuading, and they're both going to enjoy testing his persuasive skills. Ta da?...

Fanservice. LoVe fanservice everywhere. Sorry, but Logan's going to have to work harder than that to get Veronica, especially since he's fighting Veronica's insecurities (and "situation") as well as his own.

By the end of this chapter, it's about the end of their third week of school. Which means, I gave Logan about two weeks to finally make up his mind. However, that only gave Veronica about three to four months after her rape. That's why I don't particularly feel great about this chapter. Unfortunately, I needed a bit of a setup for something else that needed a slower buildup. Or... that's what I have planned so far. I'm in the middle of revising my outline again. Also, I have very little experience of my own to draw from... so, you know... my apologies.

To write this and the following chapters, I used vmtranscripts dot com. ^^ So my thanks and all credit to them. I tried to change some things though, cause it felt too much like I was copying instead of writing. I gotta say, it feels harder doing it this way for some reason. ._.

Fun fact: I keep thinking about _Mean Girls_ (where Lindsey Lohan's character imagines everyone acting like animals) whenever I write lunch scenes for this story.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: Kane is King in Neptune; or that's what Lilly and Duncan use to their advantage. Veronica regrets everything while Logan has a little too much fun going undercover with Veronica. Unidentified blondes in wide brim hats show up on hotel surveillance tapes.


	8. Chapter 8

**King of Mars**

A/N: Please note that there was a revision in the last chapter in regards to their kiss scene. Not too major, just toned it down. ^^ I also apologize for the delay!

Chapter 8

.

Exchanging the books from her previous class for the ones for her next class, Veronica glanced at the bright pink slip of paper Wallace held aloft in his hand. Curiously, she asked, "What's that?"

Looking at it in confusion, Wallace replied, "It's an invitation. I think. I found it on the floor in gym."

"Let me see." She snatched it from his hands before he could react and flashed him a triumphant smile. The smile fell from her face as she realized what she was holding.

Seeing her reaction, he asked, "What? What is it?"

"It's in code."

"Nothing gets by you, girl."

"Patience, Wallace. It's in code. But I can crack it. It's definitely a party invitation. The moon tells you that it starts when it gets dark. The hourglass indicates sand which means the beach. The K's and nines mean Dog Beach, specifically. And… eggs… of course, the universal code for Friday. Voila."

"Remind me never to doubt you."

"I'd be doing that even if you tell me to stop."

"Why would someone go through all that trouble to throw a party that people can't go to if they can't figure it out?"

"It's all about the million dollar question."

He waited for her to explain. When she didn't, he pressed, "What is…?"

"No. That was it."

"Do all white girls speak in riddles?"

"The short answer? Yes. But, that really was it. The million dollar question is 'Is your net worth at least a million dollars?' It's an 09er party. The invitations are meant to make sure the undesirables, that's you and me in case you didn't know, don't show up."

"What's an 09er?"

"You've been here a month and you don't know?"

"I had to keep my head down for a while after that thing with the bikers."

She gave him a sympathetic smile and bitterly muttered, "They're bad. Really bad. Worse than Weevil's gang in my opinion. The 09ers are the rich kids who live in the prestigious 90909 zip code. Trust me; you don't want to get involved with them. They're horrible."

Wallace noticed the grim expression take over her face as she described what an 09er was to him and didn't ask why rich kids were worse than a bike gang who taped him to a flagpole on his first day of school.

.

At first, Veronica was amused to see the curiously genuine salutes of respect and words of encouragement. And, so long as they kept their distance, Veronica would tentatively accept their support. However, like with all things in her life, it took a turn for the worse when she unknowingly walked into Lilly territory. She didn't bother to wonder how the territories were split up. She was too busy reminding herself that she couldn't go around sucker punching people because they were shooting spitwads at her. A quick glare and some oddly specific threats stopped them in their tracks, and they scurried off.

She supposed it meant that Logan's after school declaration reached the ears of every Neptune high student, and they took it to heart. Lines were definitively drawn. Even at Veronica's lunch table, the effect was visible. Their small lunch table was getting quite cozy. _Crowded_.

To her right sat Logan, munching on a chocolate chip cookie he had stolen from her.

Next to him was Dick, avoiding Madison's stares by facing away from the 09ers.

Wallace was on her left, silently making plans with Logan to steal another of her cookies. She left a few inches of buffer space between herself and Wallace, not wanting to get too close to him. Although he seemed nice and hadn't hurt her yet, that didn't mean that he wouldn't. At that thought, she put another inch of space between them, invading more of Logan's personal space. Not that he minded, if the slow and vaguely victorious smile spreading across his face was any indication.

Across from her were Carmen and Tad. Tad looked like he wanted to bolt but refused to detach himself from Carmen's side. He had long since given up on convincing Carmen to ditch Veronica.

From where she sat, she had a clear view of Lilly, and that's how she liked it. The other blonde had a sly smile on her face. What was she up to?

Breaking her from her thoughts, Wallace asked, "Hey, remember when you said 09ers were bad people and not to get involved with them?"

Logan lifted his eyebrows in surprise and gave her a questioning sideways glance while Dick pumped his fist in the air in agreement.

She raised her own eyebrow in response, daring him to deny it. "Yeah?"

While she was locked in a staring contest with Logan, Wallace easily lifted the cookie from her lunch bag. "Then what do you call those two?"

"Logan and Dick, usually. Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber, if they're being particularly annoying. And, I would put that cookie back if I were you. I get mighty ornery when I don't get enough snacks."

"You've got another two left."

"But I could have three."

"Come on. I need the help. I'm trying out for basketball today."

She enthusiastically clapped her hands together. "Ooh. Does that make you a baller?"

Shaking his head in disapproval, he laughed, "If I let you call me that, can I keep the cookie?"

"If you must."

"So? What about those two?"

She eyed the cookie in Logan's hand. "I think they've had enough."

"You know what I mean. Aren't they rich?"

"Are they? I hadn't noticed, what with the dollar signs in my eyes. So say the rumors."

Carmen interjected, "Do people seriously believe that?"

Veronica shrugged, "Some do."

"Well they're crazy," she stated definitively.

Veronica winked. "And you're a doll."

Eager to praise his love, Tad agreed, "She's prettier than a doll."

"No one was talking to you," Veronica snapped, glaring at him.

Wallace looked from Veronica to Tad. "Yeah, see? What makes those two different from that?"

Indignant, Tad pointed out, "That? I'm sitting right here."

"And yet, still not one of us is talking to you. Except for Carmen. You know what? Carmen, I'm officially upgrading you from 'doll' to 'saint' for putting up with him."

Carmen laughed, "Thanks, V." Then, she quickly kissed Tad on his forehead to stop his sulking.

"Am I going to get an answer soon?"

Dick answered for Veronica, "Ronnie loves us." He lowered his voice so only Logan could hear, "One more than the other, but I'll live." He noticeably elbowed Logan for emphasis.

Logan wasn't one to kiss and tell, but Dick didn't need Logan to tell him about what happened to know. Saturday night, Logan got a mysterious call in the middle of a Call of Duty session with Dick and Cassidy, and Dick let him go only after Logan admitted he was going to see Veronica. That, coupled with Logan's ever present smitten smile the next morning when they went surfing, meant that something good happened between the two of them. Dick guessed it was something as significant as their first kiss. Dick couldn't help but think it was about damn time, and that he was turning into a girl with all this meddling.

Knowing that she was missing something, Veronica eyed them suspiciously, "They're… special." Her explanation wasn't any better than Dick's, but she couldn't exactly explain it. Dick was sorely mistaken if he thought things were back to normal just because he was sitting at lunch with her and acting like things were normal. And while that wasn't his fault, things _were_ complicated now, whether they acknowledged it or not.

She had known Dick for a large portion of her young life, but was that enough for her to let herself trust him? She'd known her mother even longer but was in a state of constant disappointment towards her. As for Logan, she had known Logan for an even shorter time, and she couldn't even begin to start sorting out how she felt about him. This made even less sense considering the pleasant time she spent getting to know the inside of his mouth two short days ago.

So far, the only person she knew she could unconditionally trust was her father. Everyone else scared her on some subconscious level. She feared that they would hurt her as soon as she let them in. But, being alone didn't mean that she was being strong, it meant that she was a coward. And, as always, she faced her problems head on, finding a new friend in Wallace and maintaining her old friendships as her new self.

Realizing that what he asked was an inexplicably loaded question, he said, "I'll just take that as the only answer I'm probably ever going to get."

.

Veronica's quick steps were no match for Logan's long strides.

"Veronica, wait up."

She ignored him and continued walking.

"I know you can hear me."

She pulled open her car door, and he pushed it shut, leaning against her door.

Turning to face him, she said, "Oh. Hey, Logan. Didn't see you there."

"Why would you? You've been avoiding me pretty successfully since I tried talking to you after lunch."

"No I haven't."

"I feel like we've had this conversation before."

"Did we?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah… well you've got my attention now. What's up?"

"Why don't we talk inside my car?" He gestured to the bystanders openly watching them, indicating their lack of privacy.

"Said the spider to the fly," she whispered grumpily, following him a few rows down to his car.

He pulled open the backseat door for her to climb in and stepped in after her.

Bracing herself, she asked, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"The weather, Mr. Wu's choice of sweater vests, the twelve minutes in heaven we spent on your couch?"

"You think Mr. Wu's sweater vest means he's playing for the other team?"

"Veronica," he said reproachfully.

"What do you want me to say, Logan? That I regret it? Well, I'm sorry for leading you on because, I do. I regret it. But did I want it to happen? Fine, you got me."

"Why?"

Stubbornly, she replied, "Why what?"

"Why do you regret it if you wanted it to happen? You were fine when I left."

"But then I started thinking about it."

"What did I tell you about thinking?"

"Logan, there's some things about me that you don't know."

"Not for lack of trying..."

She gave him a thin smile, acknowledging his and Dick's valiant efforts at sleuthing. "And with luck, you'll never find out. I don't want you to."

"That doesn't mean you and I won't work out."

"Doesn't it? Those things mean I'm not who I used to be."

"I'm not asking you to be."

"I don't want you to say these things just because you think I want you to say them."

He insisted, "I'm not."

"I can't trust you," she said sadly, wishing that she could.

He looked her in the eye and said, "Veronica, I like you. And I'm not going to give you up again."

She cocked her head to the side. "Again?..."

Sighing, he said. "This is heading into embarrassing territory for me, isn't it?"

"You wanted to talk."

He ran a hand through his hair, a sign that he was nervous. Plunging in feet first, he stated, "You can't tell me you didn't know I liked you for the past, I don't know… how long do we know each other?"

She squeaked, "You liked me back then?"

"I like you _now_."

"Why didn't you say anything before?" She thought about the heart break and pain he would have saved her from if he would have just told her earlier.

"Duncan."

"Duncan," she repeated, confused.

"Duncan told me he liked you."

"Oh, God. This is some guy code thing isn't it?" She laughed sharply, incredulous at his reason, only her laughter came out sounding like a short sob to her ears.

"It's a friend thing," he argued, concerned about her odd reaction.

Veronica couldn't believe she was having this conversation. The childishness of it all made her want to break out in more pained laughter. If Duncan didn't like her, Logan would've asked her out before everything happened, and then, maybe she wouldn't have been Lilly's victim. She stopped herself before her thoughts got too dark. Adding onto the ridiculousness of their conversation, she asked, "Didn't you have first dibs since you saw me first?"

"Duncan was my best friend."

"Could have fooled me. Remind me where he was when you were defending me by yourself?"

"Lilly's his sister."

"So blood beats water. I know."

"You can't understand. Not really. You have your father and your friends." He purposefully didn't mention her mother.

"And?"

"And I didn't. Duncan was my first real friend. My only real friend for a long time. When he told me he liked you, giving you up just felt like something I had to do in return for his friendship."

Logan's words reminded her of how Lilly got her to lower her guard, and she involuntarily stiffened. "What changed?"

"He did. I thought you deserved someone like him. But, he's changed. I'm not saying I deserve you, but until someone better comes along, I'm not handing you over to anyone. I'll make you trust me, Veronica." He slowly extended his hand towards hers and lifted it to his lips for a chaste kiss.

The Duncan they knew now was not his best friend. His best friend would pick up his calls. His best friend would come meet him when he was outside his house. His best friends wouldn't be actively trying to make Veronica an outcast. He didn't owe anything to this Duncan. And, Veronica deserved someone who would take care of her.

In a small voice that wanted to believe him, she said, "How?" She was feeling incredibly exposed at the moment. Too vulnerable. More vulnerable than she had ever thought she'd be when she vowed to be strong. Rather than waiting for him to reply, she escaped through the other car door.

She looked at him meaningfully before retracting her hand and closing the door. She was a coward.

.

"Hey, baller. How'd tryouts go?"

Wallace was startled out of his thoughts. "Hey, V. You're looking at a starting player for the Neptune High basketball team."

Closing his locker quickly, he all but tried to run to his first period class.

Confused at his behavior, Veronica rushed to catch up with him. "So, I never got a chance to ask you about the thing with Weevil. What'd you end up doing?"

Veronica watched in curiosity as Wallace visibly struggled with himself.

"I just did what you told me and stood up for myself."

Veronica smiled encouragingly. "And?"

Wallace returned a fraction of her smile, "I told them I was keeping the tapes to make sure they wouldn't bother me anymore. You're looking at a free man."

"Someone oughta tell Honest Abe. I think he'd shed a tear."

He laughed stiltedly.

Careful not to touch him, Veronica dragged him by his backpack through the closest unlocked door, which happened to be the girls' restroom. Veronica asked him point blank, "What's wrong?"

Looking frantically around, Wallace answered, "What do you mean?"

"You're acting weird."

"I don't think you can say that after pulling me into the girls' bathroom."

"Spill," she demanded.

He lowered his shoulders in defeat. "Have you heard about the rumors going around?"

She motioned for him to continue and said, "You're going to have to be more specific. Even without the rumors about me, there's a lot going on here. It's high school."

"The one about Lilly Kane and Duncan Kane?"

"I'm an only child. Do I want to know where this is going?"

"They're telling people to stay away from you, Veronica."

"Oh. Well, that's not exactly surprising."

He gripped her shoulders to make her really listen. If he hadn't closed his eyes to compose his next words, he would've noticed her pale at his actions.

"Veronica, they're using threats. They've been going around telling the kids with parents who work at Kane Software that they're gonna get their parents fired if they don't stay away from you."

Taking a step back to break out of his hold, she let out a deep breath. "And your mother works at Kane Software. Right."

"Veronica…"

"No, I get it. I'll see you around."

Even with her meager expectations, she still managed to be let down. Even with her walls, she still got hurt.

.

A month later, Veronica sat in her in the station, filing away. Her head automatically lifted as the door to the station opened. Her jaw dropped as she watched Lamb escort Letitia Navarro into a holding cell on the suspicions of credit card fraud. Something was rotten in the town of Neptune.

.

Leaning against her car, Weevil signaled for Veronica with a head nod.

After reassuring Carmen that she'd be fine, Veronica walked over to Weevil.

"You nodded?"

Not in the mood to engage with her, he said, "You heard?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"She didn't do it."

"You know that how?" The implication behind her words was clear to both of them.

"I didn't do it either," he stated plainly.

"Of course you didn't. Was that all you wanted to say?"

Keeping his hand on her car door to keep her from leaving, he said, "I need your help."

When she decided she would prove Letitia Navarro's innocence, she didn't expect her grandson to approach her asking for help. She wasn't going to make it easy for him, though. Schooling her features into a mask of indifference, she rolled her eyes.

Seeing that she wasn't going to magically fall over herself to help him, he continued, "I'll owe you one."

"That's just for starters. Tell me everything you know."

.

Driving to the station like she usually did most days after soccer practice, she missed a call from Logan.

Veronica hoped he hadn't called to ask her out again. After their talk in his car, they had a follow up conversation where he smugly said he knew she liked him but was content with being friends until she was ready to trust him. Veronica didn't believe he wasn't up to anything, though. It was hard to when he kept looking so shmoopy and sly around her. Like he wanted nothing more than for her to trust him and was in the process of plotting how to gain it.

"I need your help."

"Whatever happened to hello? I miss that."

"Hello, Veronica. How was your day? Good? I'm feeling great myself. Happy?"

"Ecstatic. So, did you need my help with anything in particular? Or is it your whole deal? Because I'm going to need a lot of time. And even then I can't guarantee anything."

He let her get it out of her system before explaining, "It's about Mrs. Navarro. She didn't do it."

"How do you know that?"

"Did you see the things they say she bought using my mother's credit card? A motorcycle paint job? I don't think so. My bet is on her charming grandsons."

"You guys know I'm only an assistant to the receptionist at the station, right? No badge means no need to tell me things. I only overhear things if I'm lucky."

"We both know you do a lot more than overhear things."

"Yeah, but I'm not going to admit to it. And, why do you care if Mrs. Navarro did it or not?"

"She's not just my maid, Veronica. She's good people… I told you I don't have a lot of those in my life…"

"You could just get your family to drop the charges."

"I tried. Aaron wouldn't let it go. He said he had to make an example out of her."

"I'll do it. If only to prove that Aaron is an idiot."

"I owe you one."

"Actually, I think that makes us even."

"If we're bringing up the past, I distinctly remember doing you more favors than just the one."

"Discuss later. I gotta go. The reception desk waits. Bye, Logan."

"See you later."

She dreaded finding out exactly what he meant by that, and a knot formed in her stomach.

.

Cliff stood in front of the reception area, leaning against the counter.

"Veronica, just the girl I wanted to see."

Moving around to sit behind her desk, she said, "Let me guess. You need my help?"

"You always were smart."

"About the Navarro case?"

He arched his eyebrow. "Now, it's borderline creepy. What do you know?"

"So far, two people have approached me today asking me to prove her innocence. So, there's that."

The door to the sheriff's office opened and Keith stepped out. Cliff kept his mouth shut.

Spotting Veronica, Keith said, "Hey sweetie. How was school?"

"You know, the usual. Blackmailed the teachers into giving us a half day next week."

"That's my girl. Staying out of trouble?"

"Did you not hear about the blackmail?"

"Of course. It's this darned aging. I'll be home late tonight, alright? I have case with a missing girl. Her painter boyfriend didn't report her missing until a week after she left. I can't even work on getting Mrs. Navarro out yet."

"Hope you find her, Dad. So, you don't think Mrs. Navarro did it?"

"Not that you need to know, but no."

She rolled her eyes. Of course she didn't need to know. Except, a lot of people seemed to want her to. "But you arrested her."

"Mr. Echolls insisted she be taken into custody until everything is sorted out."

Veronica scoffed, "Right."

"Sweetie…"

"I know. That's just how things go around here. It's not your fault. Should I set you a place for dinner?"

"I don't think so. Just save me some leftovers. And, keep in mind that while I do enjoy the powdery orange stuff, some real food wouldn't hurt."

"Noted."

"I'll be back in a few hours. Bye, sweetie."

"Not in public, Keith. What will the voters think?" Cliff replied.

"Goodbye, Cliff," Keith said, amused.

Veronica laughed and kissed her father's cheek. "Bye, Dad."

Directing her to Cliff, Veronica said, "What do you need me to do?"

"Crack the case, quickly."

"Of course. Am I going to get compensation this time?"

"Does my gratitude get me anything?"

"A nice visit to the loony bin," she offered.

"Then I guess our usual quid pro quo would work, too."

"Ah, yes. Tit for tat's fancier cousin. The files?"

Cliff pulled out a manila envelope and handed it over to Veronica.

"And this still stays a secret from my dad?"

He clicked his tongue and winked, "You got it, V."

"I'll see what I can do."

It was a sign from the universe, that someone up there wanted her to help Mrs. Navarro. Otherwise, why would so many people willingly offer up all the information she would have had to steal or wheedle out of people?

.

Logan showed up on her doorstep that night with some chicken noodle soup.

"It's good for the soul."

"But that just alienates the soulless customers."

"I'll deal," he grinned.

Letting him in, she said, "I hope you brought enough for my dad."

"And your mother." He pointed to the four containers in the plastic carryout bag. She pushed the papers from the Navarro case to the side of the coffee table to make room for their dinner.

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it when she wakes up."

Logan made no comment. Instead, he looked at the papers and, recognizing the significance of the papers, asked, "Find anything good yet?"

"Only that a lot of people don't believe Mrs. Navarro did it."

"Your dad?"

"Among others." Taking one of the soup containers, she sat down and motioned for him to sit too. "What do you know about the Neptune Grande?"

"They're very discreet."

"Damn."

He sat down next to her and opened his own soup container, letting the steam rise tantalizingly. "Damn? See, that would be a good thing for most people."

"Not private investigators. Whoever was using your mother's cards booked a room at the Neptune Grande and ordered room service. And, I need to see who signed for it." Casting him a sideways smile, she asked, "Say, wanna play private eye with me?"

His lips quirked upward. "Only if we get to play doctor after."

"Come on. It's for Mrs. Navarro. You wanted to help her!"

He laughed, "I didn't say no."

"So you'll do it?"

"Lead the way."

.

Logan tried his best to keep from smiling and blowing their cover. But, seeing Veronica chew out the concierge who was at least six inches taller than her was far too entertaining to watch with a straight face. Veronica decided that he would be her fiancé who she accused of cheating with a random girl just two weeks after their wedding.

She folded her arms angrily across her chest. "I told you the room number and the exact time! I know it's under that hussy's name. He's not stupid enough to cheat on me using his own credit card. I don't see why you can't just show me their room service records. I need to prove he was there if I want to screw him over in the divorce."

Logan saw her tap her foot in irritation and to signal him. Show time.

He came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulders, rubbing along the sides of her arms to soothe her. "Baby, I told you I wasn't here. I was staying with a friend. Can't we stop this and go home?"

"Friend? Or playmate?" She narrowed her eyes at the concierge. "See what I have to deal with? Get me those records!"

The concierge wanted to get away from the problematic couple immediately. Backing away, he offered, "Let me get the manager for you."

Whispering to Logan, she asked, "Was that okay for you?"

"Worthy of an Oscar."

"Wait, shh. Here comes the manager."

The manager happened to be a clean cut, middle aged man.

Speaking in an experienced voice, he said, "Good evening, miss. I understand you want a copy of a guest's room service records. However, I must apologize. As I'm sure my employee explained to you, hotel policy won't allow us to do that. Only the person who paid for the room can make such a request."

"Perhaps you can make an exception," Logan suggested. "My mother sent me to get a copy of the detailed expense records during her stay here for her accountant."

The manager's eyes shifted to Logan, who was still standing behind Veronica. Perplexed, he stuttered, "Mr. Echolls, my apologies. I didn't realize you were the one making the request. Michael said it was a Mr. and Mrs. Archie Andrews…?"

He answered, "She likes to pretend. You know actors. Always going for that dramatic flair."

Logan smiled down at Veronica and kissed the top of her head. Veronica smiled back cutely and said nothing. There was that cunningly shmoopy face again.

"Of course. Please wait one moment, and I'll be back with your copies."

She waited until the manager left before rounding on him.

"You _knew_ we could've just walked up here and gotten the room service records _without_ having to lie," she accused.

"I may have had a feeling. But your way was more fun."

"Ass," she huffed.

.

It didn't make sense. Chardo Navarro couldn't have done this alone. But, the copies that the manager gave her only showed Chardo signing for room service.

"How fast can you get me the security tapes to the Neptune Grande?"

"If I did everything for you, I wouldn't be a very good teacher, would I?"

"Cut the crap, Vinnie."

Sitting back in his leather chair, Vinnie asked, "Is that any way to ask for a favor?"

She smiled sweetly. "It's certainly my way."

"Why don't you get it yourself?"

"I went there with Logan yesterday; they're going to recognize me the next time I come in."

Vinnie considered her for a moment. "You know the Gants?"

"The 09er family? Son's name is Casey?"

"Yeah."

"I know them enough."

"They came in a few days ago, asking me to dig up some dirt on the cult their son joined."

Veronica was shocked. "Casey's in a cult?"

"Not officially. They're called the Moon Calf Collective."

Eager to get her hands on those tapes, she asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Infiltrate them. See if they're doing anything illegal. Brainwashing. The usual."

"You get me the tapes first, and I'll get started on the cult."

"Make me proud, V."

He went to his filing cabinet and pulled out some tapes, tossing them at her.

Fumbling to catch them, she asked, "What are these?"

"You know, you're not as smart as you look."

"Funny. I always thought the same about you. Are you sure these are for the day I need?"

"Yep. A thank you would be nice."

"It certainly would be. How did you know I'd ask for these?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm a busy man. They were for a different case. Husband and mistress type stuff. No money shot, though, so I didn't give them to the wife. You gonna get started on the Gant case now or what?"

"Sure. Right after I finish with this. Shouldn't be more than another day or so. Bye, Vinnie!" She spoke quickly and ran off.

He really should have seen that coming.

.

In the privacy of her room, she watched the tapes labeled for the Saturday night that Chardo stayed at the Neptune Grande. She was currently focused on the tape of the camera that had an unobstructed view of the hall outside Chardo's suite.

There was a young couple walking to their room. An old man in a bathrobe. A group of college girls. A family of three.

And hello. Jake Kane with a mysterious blonde. Out of curiosity, Veronica replayed the tape to get a good look at the woman. She looked familiar. Possibly a socialite she'd met briefly when still friends with a certain _someone_. It was impossible to tell whom though. The blonde pressed to Jake's side wore a wide brim hat and sunglasses. Oh, well. She thought coldly, that was Celeste's problem, not hers.

Veronica passed through a number of strangers before finally spotting Chardo on the tapes. She was right. He wasn't alone. Veronica couldn't make out the girl's face, but the way she bounced while she _sashayed_… the way she threw her head back in laughter… Fuck. Lilly.

Damn the popularity of hats and sunglasses. Veronica couldn't definitively identify the girl as Lilly. But she knew. It just had to be her. At least now she had some idea of what Lilly was up to.

But why commit credit card fraud when mommy and daddy presented her with her very own platinum card for her birthday? The answer she came up with? To cause trouble.

It wouldn't be out of character for her after all. This must be Lilly's way of retaliating after Logan stood up for her. She was slightly disappointed that Lilly wasn't being more creative, though. Money didn't even matter to the Echolls family.

Phone in hand, she called up Weevil.

"Weevil?"

"Blondie? You should know what calls after midnight mean."

"Is it that late already? Must be the hair. But, while I have you. Do you know where Chardo is?"

"We're not exactly known for being clingy."

She urged, "Can you find him? I need you to get him to tell you who he was with at the Neptune Grande or who he was buying all the stuff for."

"What would he be doing at the Neptune Grande?" Weevil asked, before realizing what she meant. "You need to start explaining everything. Now."

"Long story short. Chardo, that lovable scamp, used the stolen credit cards to take out a girl, I suspect an 09er girl, in style and was going to let your grandmother take the fall."

Speaking through gritted teeth, he ground out, "I'm going to kill him."

"No you're not. Not yet anyway. You need to find out who the girl was first."

"Yeah, we'll see if I feel like talking when I catch him."

"Weevil, you can't! I need this, and you owe me."

"How's that?"

"I'm getting your grandmother released from jail tomorrow. I'm going to give all the evidence proving that Chardo's the one who did it to your grandmother's lawyer tomorrow. That should give you enough time to _question_ him first. Got it?"

"Yeah. Got it."

She went to sleep early that night to prepare herself for dealing with the Moon Calf Collective tomorrow. With her generic troubled teen poem, melodramatically titled, 'I Cut Because I Can', she bound to be recruited into whatever they were.

.

Deputy Sacks brought Chardo in a few minutes ago, and Veronica took a break just outside the station to call Weevil.

"Was I not clear when I told you to go with the questions first method of dealing with Chardo? Or do you just enjoy pissing me off?"

"Cool it, V. I did ask him about the girl."

"Then explain the bruises and blood."

"Don't tell me you never heard of good cop, bad cop?"

"Was everyone a bad cop?"

"He wouldn't give her up. Even before we started using other methods to… persuade him."

"Fine. Thanks, but you definitely still owe me."

She hung up on him and returned to help Inga and her never ending filing duties.

.

Lilly fastened her Mary Jane heels, preparing to head out and meet her new man.

Chardo had been useful to her for two reasons. One, he was adequate in bed. And two, he was stealing money from the Echolls family to spend on her. It was beneath her. But, still, the cheap thrill she got every time he swiped Lynn Echolls' credit card was enough to get her off.

But that was over now, and Chardo had been put away. No more laughably loyal dog to use to get back at Logan in her own petty way.

Since that time, Lilly had been looking for new ways to keep herself distracted. Her new lover liked the school girl look, and she happily obliged. For a price.

.

The tell tale sliding of Lilly's door woke Duncan from his fitful slumber.

He buried his head into his pillow.

He couldn't have Lilly. Though, at this point, he had overcome his obsession with her. And, he couldn't have Veronica, the girl he used to get over his obsession with Lilly. What he needed was someone new, he thought. But, who could hold a candle to Veronica?

His father raised him with the mindset that Kanes deserved only the best. But when the best happened to be your half sister, what was the next best thing?

What about a close copy of the best thing?

.

"I'll drop the recordings for the Gant case tomorrow night. But, I honestly don't know what you can get off those. They seemed really nice. They were hippies, of course, but still nice. I think they're good for Casey, too. He's nicer now. Yeah. I think that's the problem. Mhmm. Did his parents tell you that his grandmother's leaving everything to him? My thoughts exactly. Good luck, Vinnie."

She set her phone down and settled down on her couch for another Saturday night alone spent in front of her TV. As with the previous Saturdays, she debated whether or not to call Logan over. It was after nine again. He might get ideas… Ideas that she wasn't entirely opposed to.

A gentle knocking on her door, that she thought she imagined as a result from her Logan induced craziness, put a halt to her internal debate.

Speak of the devil and he shall come? Only one way to find out. She pushed herself off her couch and walked cautiously to her front door. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To **MSVasco**: Keith does not find out about Veronica's rape. Though, that's not to say that no one will find out, whether it be Veronica's choice or not. To **Nichole**: Veronica's marshmallow center shows up at the worst time, and her plans for revenge may have to take a backseat at various points. That's not to say that karma doesn't give it the old college try. To **guest**: I would like to say that someone does, but who does Lilly have that would care enough to notice that she's acting crazy? … is my tentative reply. To **JeniLyn2000**: Muahaha, who says they're seriously together? Wink. If Weapons of Class Destruction has taught us anything, a kiss is just the beginning.

At this point in the story, Logan is still himself with his brand of tawdry humor/ naughtiness/ innuendos/ double entendres/ borderline lewdness because he's blissfully unaware that anything has happened with Veronica since she (more or less) acts the same around him. Nothing suggests that the changes that she's been making were due to her being raped. So, just in case, cut the boy some slack. Veronica's not exactly telling him to stop either...

I've revised the ending for Duncan. While my previous ending was fit for the bastard that he is in this story, it wasn't really an ending that gave closure. I think this one will be much more _fun_ in regards to the circumstances and somewhat possible. It's fun for everyone that's not Duncan anyway. Golly, that was vague. But, rejoice.

I've also come to a fairly permanent decision on the Lilly situation. Some of you may be disappointed. Others may not. Either way, I hope that it comes off as a realistic resolution.

Fun fact: My outline for this chapter was seven hundred thirty one words. This chapter is six thousand and forty words. It's freaking mathemagical.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: The theme is: la Princesse et la Grenouille. Duncan and X spotted sitting in a tree, possibly kissing; no sign of a baby carriage.


	9. Chapter 9

**King of Mars**

A/N: Thank you for last chapter's response and sorry for the cliffhanger... Forgive me and enjoy. Picks up where the last chapter left off. Also, this has gone through so many edits. Expect more edits to come… Minor or not.

Chapter 9

.

"What are you doing here?"

"Can I come in?"

She didn't move. A bit more bitterly than she intended, she said, "Aren't you afraid Lilly's spies are going to tattle on you for being here?"

"Look, I was being an idiot, Veronica. And, I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

She stepped back to close the door, but his hand shot out to stop her. "I have a little brother."

"I remember. Your point?"

"Do you remember me mentioning my dad at all?"

She didn't know where he was going with this, and opened the door more fully out of curiosity. "Not really, I guess. I didn't really notice."

"That's because he died when I was a kid." He cut her off before she can apologize for something she had no power over. "And I've made my peace with that. He was a great dad. But that means that me and my little brother only have my mother raising us."

"Wallace…"

"Let me say this, V. Cause I've been thinking. You risked yourself to help me when you didn't even know who I was. You were a better friend than I could have ever asked for. And, I don't want you to hate me. I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here. But, I'd be a fool if I didn't try to be friends with you again."

"Wallace," she said softly. "I'm not acting like this because I hate you. I walked away to make it easier for you. Making you choose between me and Lilly? Kind of a necessity. Making you choose between me and your mother? I never wanted to put you in that position. Thanks for apologizing though."

Wallace stuffed his hands in his pockets. "That doesn't sound too good to me."

"Your mother's job…"

Shuffling his feet, he admitted, "Yeah, I didn't really think this through. I was kinda counting on you magically saving my ass again."

Veronica laughed sadly. "Sorry, I'm fresh out of pixie magic."

"Figures. Any bright ideas then?"

"Just one."

Pounding his fist twice against his chest, he asked, "You need some muscle?"

"No," she smiled. "But I may need a little help with my plan. I don't know why it took me so long to think of it."

Yes, she did. She was subconsciously testing him and his worthiness as her friend.

"What are you going to do?"

"Simple. Go over her head. How comfortable are you with handling recording devices?"

She had a feeling that the Kane patriarch didn't know what his progeny had been up to, and she was going to take it upon herself to inform him.

.

Wallace fidgeted nervously as he followed her into her room. "So what do I have to get Lilly to say again?"

She went to her desk and pulled out the false bottom of her desk's middle drawer. She located the pen Vinnie lent her among her various gadgets and handed it to him. It had a signal that fed into her laptop so she could listen to and record their conversation. "It's simple. All you have to do is get her to threaten you again. Try telling her you didn't believe that she could get your mother fired. You got this, Papa Bear. You'll think of something."

"Papa Bear?"

"You earned it." She grinned. "Now, scat. I don't want the neighbors to tell my dad about guys coming and leaving my house at night."

.

Where did he go wrong?

Approximately a week after Wallace came to Veronica for help, Jake Kane received a package from a Betty Cooper at his office. After reading the letter and listening to the tape Betty helpfully included, Jake thought that he had perhaps given Lilly too much credit.

He had told Lilly to stay away from Veronica, but he didn't think she'd take it one step further and threaten the other students to force them to stay away from Veronica, too. And he seriously doubted it was for her mother's benefit. Jake didn't know why Lilly suddenly had a change of heart about Veronica after being such close friends with her, and frankly, he didn't care all that much after seeing the result of their friendship. He was more concerned about the end result of Lilly's actions now. Lilly was getting out of control, and her actions only confirmed that she was bringing Veronica down with her, friend or foe.

He sent a handwritten apology, along with flowers, to Veronica and a separate apology to Lianne for not keeping his promise and allowing Lilly to hurt Veronica. Thank God someone told him about it.

The thank you letter he sent to Betty Cooper was curiously returned with a notice stating that the address was nonexistent. Jake didn't pay much attention to that though. He had other things to take care of, like paying off that sleazy private investigator that Celeste hired to tail him.

After forcing Lilly to apologize to the families of the employees whose children she had threatened, Jake had one of his rare talks with Lilly and sent her to her mother for punishment.

.

When word of Lilly's, albeit, insincere apologies spread, the rumors about Lilly and Duncan's threats were consequently confirmed to be true and, at the same time, resolved in Veronica's favor.

.

Logan squeezed himself in between her and Carmen. He brought Thai food for himself and Veronica.

She rolled her eyes at him but accepted the food. It was really her fault for somehow encouraging his behavior by not actively discouraging it… only with the two of them would that make sense.

Seeing Wallace, Logan smiled unpleasantly. "Oh. _You're_ back."

Waving her hand in front of Logan, Veronica said, "Play nice. We're all friends here."

Wallace snickered at Logan's put out look and beamed at her.

Showing teeth now, he replied, "I'm insulted. I'm very nice at playing." Lowering his voice so only Veronica could hear, he said, "But, you already knew that."

She swatted at him and made a face, which he returned with a genuine smile.

Dick eyed the food Logan brought for Veronica and said, "Dude. You didn't get any for us? I love Thai."

"Massages. You love Thai massages. You hate Thai food," Logan replied.

Carmen giggled. "Keep talking, but I think we all know why."

Veronica threw her friend a dirty look. "Hey, Carmen? Where's that toad that always follows you around?"

Carmen cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What?"

"Tad. Tadpole. Frog. Amphibian. Hence, toad."

She tried to hold in her laughter. "Sorry, V. Not all of us think so creatively. He said something about having to check out a website. I think it had something to do with that purity test that was going around."

Puzzled, Veronica asked, "Purity test?"

Dick shook his head in disbelief. "Ronnie. You gotta keep up. It's getting embarrassing."

Carmen kindly stepped in to explain. "A few days ago, everyone in school got an email with a quiz attached. You answer a bunch of questions about things you did or didn't and it gives you a score showing how pure you are."

It sounded terrible to Veronica, and she was glad she didn't notice or receive the email.

"Or not pure." Dick said proudly, "Sixty three, baby."

Veronica snorted and opened the Styrofoam takeout container that Logan brought her. "Is that a good thing?"

Holding in his laughter, Logan said, "Only if you're a guy."

Turning to everyone else, she purposefully asked, "So, what did you guys score then?"

Carmen raised her hands in surrender. "Don't look at me. I didn't take it. I thought it was junk mail before everyone went crazy over it."

She turned to Wallace who hung his head in shame. "Seventy."

"Wow, you are 30% danger-lovin', girl-touchin' rock star," she exclaimed excitedly. She nudged Logan with her elbow. "What about you?"

Logan pretended to zip his lips close.

"Aww. Come on. I just want to know."

"Now you see, you're smiling. So I think it's all fun and safe, but it's a slippery slope from here."

Tapping her chin in thought, she said, "So it's a low score."

Dick took his fork, jabbed it into Veronica's chicken pad see ew, and took a large bite. With his mouth half full of food, he stated, "Ronnie, if you already got him by the balls, why not just put him out of his misery and go out with him already?"

Veronica straightened and crossed her arms over her chest while Logan chuckled.

Resting his head innocently on his hand, Logan turned to Veronica. "Yeah, Veronica. Why not just go out with me?"

Suddenly very interested in her lunch, Veronica replied, "Because I don't date donkeys. No matter how intelligent they are."

Wallace blinked. "Just how much did I miss when I was gone? Did these two finally admit they like each other?"

Logan answered, "Yes." However, at the same time, Veronica firmly shouted, "No."

Laughing, Wallace said, "So, you guys like each other, you just haven't admitted it yet?"

Veronica opened her mouth to protest, but Logan quickly thwarted her by spooning some food into her mouth, earning him a glare.

He answered, "She's just shy."

.

The next day was total anarchy. The student body was fighting amongst themselves and colorful names were flung around maliciously. Faculty and staff were trying to do the best they could to no avail. Veronica didn't have very high expectations for school that day, but what she saw was utter madness.

Off to the side, Veronica spotted Carmen crying and clutching her knees to her chest under her locker.

Veronica sat down beside her and, in a soothing voice, asked, "What's wrong, Carmen?"

"Tad dumped me."

"And… these are tears of joy?"

Carmen took a deep shuddering breath. "No, Veronica. He called me a slut and dumped me."

Veronica wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "What happened?"

"The purity tests. Anyone can buy someone else's purity test online now. For ten dollars, my life was ruined," Carmen said bitterly. "I told him I didn't even take the stupid thing, but he wouldn't believe me!"

Using the pads of her fingers, Veronica hesitantly rubbed Carmen's back in a circular motion. It was for a good cause. Looking around her, Veronica saw that Carmen wasn't the only one whose life was ruined. Or, as ruined as it could be during their high school years. Students' lockers were tagged with their scores to helpfully let others know what they didn't have a right to know. And, above her head, Veronica saw Carmen's score and grimaced. A forty.

"He thinks I'm the biggest slut ever," she sobbed pathetically.

Letting out a sigh and with fake cheer, Veronica said, "You can't possibly be the biggest."

She jutted out her thumb to direct Carmen's attention to her own decorated locker across from Carmen's and a few down. Exactly what did a girl who was raped and drugged score on a purity test? "Fourteen. I guess that officially makes me the biggest slut," she said darkly.

Veronica stood up and held out her hand for Carmen to take. Helping her up, Veronica stated, "Tad is obviously an even bigger piece of shit than I thought he was if he didn't believe you. And, I'm going to get to the bottom of this."

.

The harassment didn't stop at the slut sneezing or immature snickering behind her back. No, that'd be too easy.

Standing in a towel, Veronica slammed her empty locker shut and shouted, "Where are my clothes?"

The girls in the locker room turned their backs on her.

Again, she shouted, "Where are my clothes?!"

This time, the girls hurriedly walked out of the locker room.

Clenching her teeth, Veronica went in search for her clothes. They had mysteriously been misplaced inside a questionably clean porcelain toilet bowl.

Veronica pursed her lips. She debated what to do. Her gym clothes, regular clothes, and soccer clothes couldn't be used again until she ran them in the washing machine at least five times.

"Ugh, people can be so awful here."

Startled, Veronica spun around, clutching the towel securely to her chest. Seeing the school's one and only Disney princess standing behind her and looking down at the toilet, she immediately relaxed.

Cheekily, she asked, "Well does this towel make me look fat?"

Meg smiled brightly. "As fabulous as you look, rocking that towel, want something else to wear?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Famous last words.

.

Veronica stepped into the courtyard with her back straight and her head held high. She would not show any signs of distress.

"I usually have sweats in my locker. Sorry."

She clapped her hands together. "No, this is perfect. I just have to resist the urge to do a cartwheel."

Optimistically, Meg suggested, "Why don't you come have lunch with us? You're already dressed for the occasion."

Veronica quickly declined. "Meg, you're nice. Painfully nice. To a fault. But, I know you're not blind. The 09ers and I have a hate-hate relationship. And that's just the way I like it."

Accepting her answer, Meg nodded and said, "Not all the 09ers, Veronica."

Veronica knew she wasn't just referring to Dick and Logan and nodded back.

Heading to her car, Veronica noticed it sagging slightly. The air had been let out of the left, front tire. It was either Lilly or one of her minions. Either way, she knew Lilly was the real driving force behind it happening.

This happened ever so often, and she struck back in kind.

Veronica casually walked over to Lilly's car and took out her pocketknife. She thought that Lilly would have stopped after the first couple of times, but Lilly was more stubborn than she thought. Quickly, she slashed the left, front tire of Lilly's convertible. Taking out the tube of lip stick she kept specifically for these occasions. Today, she drew a large heart across Lilly's windshield and wrote 'I've got more miles on me than my car' inside it. Juvenile and not her best work, but she didn't have the time to spare to think of something more suitable. She still had to find Logan or Dick to ask for a ride home so she could change.

She made a note to ask Weevil to just teach her how to change her tires this time instead of asking him for multiple favors.

It was too bad she couldn't ask anyone else to help her. However, she couldn't imagine Logan reacting very well to finding out people were bullying her. She couldn't ask Dick because he'd just tell Logan. Wallace didn't even have a car yet so she doubted he would know how. And, her father might freak out, like Logan, and threaten everyone at school if he found out. Thus, Weevil.

.

Cole wasn't at the lunch table yet, but Meg dutifully sat down at Lilly's table.

With a disgusted look on her face, Pam asked, "Meg, why is Veronica Mars wearing your uniform?"

She smiled politely. "She needed something to wear, and I offered."

Rolling her eyes, Pam said, "Better make sure she washes it."

Highly displeased, Lilly added, "I'd boil it if I were you."

"Did you see the score she got on her purity test? What a skank."

Lilly smirked. Of course she saw. In more ways than one, Lilly was responsible for the score on Veronica's locker.

Madison laughed snidely. "Didn't you score a sixty three?"

Scoffing, Pam replied, "Yeah, I did. Just like your boyfriend. Oops. I mean ex-boyfriend. You guys break up and get together so often, it's hard to keep track. But, I guess he broke up with you for good that last time, huh?"

Madison scowled unprettily at Pam. Pam was the one who told all of their friends and anyone who was willing to listen about how Dick had unceremoniously dumped her for Veronica Mars. Social ladder climbing bitch.

The two girls squabbled and didn't notice Lilly leaving abruptly.

It was the kind of thing that Duncan would usually point out, but today, he had a distraction. The answer to his problems apparently came gift wrapped in a pink headband.

.

Lilly talked angrily into her cell phone in the empty journalism classroom.

.

Veronica found him sitting outside the main office with his hands behind his head as he leaned against the wall in the uncomfortable bench.

"I need your help."

Logan turned, and he soaked in Veronica's appearance appreciatively.

"Oh, this is gonna be good. Let me guess. You want me to fix your pipes? Mow your lawn? Deliver a sausage pizza?"

Veronica sat herself down ungracefully next to him. Laughing exaggeratedly, she said, "Classic. Does your purity test score have anything to do with your familiarity with those lines?"

"If you really wanted to know my score, you could either ask someone else or buy it."

"But that's cheating. And you know I like to play by the rules."

"Sure. Rule abiding Veronica Mars, that's what we usually call you."

"So _why_ did you do it?"

"I'm not going to stand back while some asshole talks about you like that."

Facing him, she said, "Hold on. What?"

Backtracking, Logan said, "Wait. What were you talking about?"

"I was asking you why you would even take the purity test. What did you think I was talking about?" Taking a moment to consider where they were sitting and the noticeably bloodied knuckles on his right hand, Veronica exclaimed, "Were you fighting?"

Smugly, Logan replied, "Is it really a fight when the other guy loses consciousness after one punch?"

"Logan! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking it was a lovely day to get to know our principal. What better way than to get myself a private meeting?"

She jabbed at his chest with a pointed finger. "You couldn't have just left a note on his windshield like everyone else? What happened?"

Rubbing where she had just poked him, he answered, "Some punk was running his mouth about you, and I didn't like it."

Veronica was pleased in an odd primitive way at the thought of Logan defending her honor with fisticuffs.

He looked her up and down again. "And you're not exactly helping. Why are you wearing that?"

"When I got out of gym, my clothes magically landed themselves in the toilet. I was going to ask you to drive me home so I could change, but I guess I'll have to find Dick. Do you know where he is?"

"He said he was going to eat with Cassidy, but I don't know where." Seeing her smile widely and head start to tilt upward and to the side at him, Logan sighed. "But, if you ask nicely, you can borrow my car."

"Great!" She held out her hand. "Keys, please."

Just because he was giving in doesn't mean he couldn't have a little fun first. "I guess saying 'please' is nice enough. But, darn. Wouldn't you know it? I completely forgot. I don't know where my keys are."

Suspiciously, Veronica asked, "Where'd you last see them?"

"One of my pockets. I suppose you'll have the pleasure of finding out which one."

Veronica stared at his front pockets, looking for a bulge. A _key_ bulge.

Watching her watch him, he thought his plan may have backfired on him. Her intent stare combined with her inappropriate cheerleading getup, was making him uncomfortable in various ways. Not all of them bad. And, if she really did reach into his pocket to look for his keys, she might find an unwelcome surprise.

Sighing, he reached over into his backpack's front pouch and pulled out his car keys.

"I never said what kind of pocket," he defended.

She grabbed it from his hands. "Would you have stopped me?"

"Would you have wanted to stop?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll think about that while I'm taking your precious baby out for a lovely spin."

She hopped up, and Logan's eyes widened in terror. She wouldn't.

He begged, "Veronica! It's fine if you're mad at me, but don't take it out on the children!"

Veronica chuckled and merely waved him goodbye without turning around.

On the drive home, Veronica gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white as she thought about someone trying to hurt Carmen.

.

She returned Logan's keys to him, after finding him where she left him, still sitting in time out outside the office and waiting for his parents to come to talk to the principal about his unruly behavior. Feeling particularly charitable, Veronica kept him company until the lunch bell rang.

Wanting to quickly thank Meg again for letting her borrow her uniform, Veronica stopped by her locker, only to see Meg engaged in a heated argument with her boyfriend. Unexpectedly, she was wiping furiously at a '44' written across her locker in what appeared to be a very hard to get out paint.

Was Meg another victim? That meant someone had to have had a grudge against her, Carmen, and Meg. But who would hate all three of them?

Tears running down her face, Meg cried, "He was our tour guide!"

Cole angrily waved the papers he held in his hand in front of her face. "Was sex included in the package or was that extra? It all makes sense, every question here. You turned me into a joke. I guess I was the only guy you didn't spread your—"

"You might want to walk away before I introduce you to my taser." Veronica reached into her satchel, as if she were about to pull it out on him at any moment.

"You don't have a taser," he said uneasily.

Veronica stared him down. "You wanna take your chances?"

Cole tossed the papers at Meg and spat at her feet. "Forget it. You're not worth it."

Veronica tripped him as he tried to walk pass her. Cole landed flat on the floor in pain. Deliberately going out of her way to step on him, Veronica walked over to Meg, offering a tissue.

Meg gratefully took the offered tissue, "I-I didn't even do anything."

Nodding, Veronica said, "I know."

"You believe me?"

"I told you. You're nice to a fault, the last good person at this school. I'd believe cartoon birds braided your hair this morning. I'm already planning to find out who did the same thing to me and my friend. If you want, I can find out who posted that test for you, too."

"Really?"

"Unless there's a fairy godmother already on it."

After school, she left in search of the computer teacher to ask for help. Finding him useless, Veronica went to soccer practice, despite her mind being elsewhere. Carmen was conspicuously missing today, but Veronica couldn't blame her for taking it so badly.

Later that day, Veronica checked out the purity test website. Both Meg and Carmen claimed to not have taken the test, and she definitely didn't take the test either. But when she splurged and bought the tests for all three of them, she promptly found out that someone had taken the time to falsify tests for them. Apparently, she pleasured the swim team while hopped up on goof balls.

.

The next day at school, Cassidy ran up to her.

Not having seen him in a while, Veronica said, "Hey stranger."

"Hey, Veronica. I heard you needed some computer help?"

Veronica stopped walking and motioned him to speak lower. "Logan told you?"

"Dick, actually."

"I really should get them muzzles."

Cassidy smiled at the thought of his older brother with his shaggy blond dog hair and in a muzzle. "Are you still looking?"

"What do you know?"

"I think I know someone who can help you."

"Can I trust them?" That was rich. So many loaded questions rolled into one.

"Yeah. She's amazing," he said honestly.

Veronica noticed the awe in his voice. It looked like somebody had a crush. "How'd you meet her?"

"In the computer lab last year when I was hiding out."

"Of course. A computer nerd's natural habitat. Well, take me to your leader," she said, saluting him.

The computer nerd turned out to be a girl with electric blue streaks in her hair.

"Hi, I'm Veronica."

"Hey. Mac." Mac held out her hand for Veronica to shake, but Veronica seemed to have been captivated by the wallpaper of the computer screen. Mac glanced curiously at Cassidy.

Cassidy said, "This is who I called you about yesterday. She needs your help."

After explaining her needs and urgency, Mac educated Veronica on Neptune High's email and IT system. And, apparently, there was an attractive IT guy who came Tuesday and Friday mornings to Neptune, and he was the only person who had access to students' passwords.

"If he can't help you, just come talk to me, I know a few things."

She winked at her. "Thanks, Mac."

Mac could be a useful ally.

.

On Friday, Veronica prepared to be as peppy and ditzy as she could to meet with Renny DeMouy, the handsome IT guy. And that _accent_. Damn.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for the school, Renny was unmovable in his professionalism and refused to give out her fake friend's password despite her attempts at bribery and seduction. She did, however, get him to change her password to prevent the person from accessing her account again.

At a dead end, Veronica found Mac in the computer lab during lunch and asked Mac to email her information about the corporation who made the purity test.

A dialogue box popped up on the computer screen as Veronica tried to log into her account. It said she couldn't access her account on this computer until she logged out of the other computer.

"That's impossible."

Mac agreed. "Unless, someone else is logged in for you."

"Can you find out which computer they're using?"

"Sure."

Mac traced the IP address to a computer in the journalism room. But, no one was there. The bell rang, but they paid it no mind.

Standing behind Veronica as she checked the computer, Mac asked, "So how hush-hush are the contents of your mailbox?"

"Just homework and class schedules. Anything on the QT, I keep in my personal email, not my Neptune—Oh, God."

"What?"

"My outbox. There's an email from me to just about every guy in school."

"That can't be good."

She read the email, "Dear lover, I want you to know that I still love you very much and think about you constantly. That's why it hurts me to say that when we were dating, I had VD. You should get yourself checked?!" Panicking, Veronica asked, "Am I naked? Because in my nightmares, I'm usually naked."

The computer pinged and Veronica jumped. Both Mac's and her attention were directed to a chat box that appeared on the screen. It was from a person called Froggy.

_**Froggy**__: where'd u go?_

Mac looked at Veronica in confusion. "Someone's trying to chat with whoever's pretending to be you."

Quickly typing a response, she said, "They think I'm still whoever was on my account."

_**VMars**__: Can you get a password for me?_

Mac pointed out, "But the bell's rung. They'd know that whoever it is would have left for their next class."

_**Froggy**__: another one?_

Veronica stood up suddenly. "Unless they're not at school. We have all the information we need."

"We do? Wait, Veronica. Who is Froggy, do we know? Who's Froggy?"

.

Veronica had a very strong feeling about who she'd find with Renny as she made her way to the seedy rock quarry.

Flinging open the door of the parked car, Veronica immediately started taking pictures. "Hey, _lover_. Got your email."

.

The pictures she took captured Renny in too full a view. However, the girl he was with was quick to use him as a human shield, and she never got more than her hands and feet.

Looking over the pictures meticulously, she spotted something that could identify the girl.

While still 'friends', she and Lilly had gotten matching shoes, which she had personally decorated just like how the shoes in the photos were decorated. However, no one else would believe that the girl in the photos was Lilly. They were useless. Even she wasn't completely sure about the matching shoes.

At this point, it didn't matter who framed her and her friends. Veronica just wanted to know who to direct her anger at.

Lucky for her, Renny didn't know that Veronica's pictures weren't as incriminating as she would have liked.

Veronica threatened Renny with going straight to the police with her photos if he didn't confess to giving out Neptune students' passwords.

He exasperatedly exclaimed, "But, I would be fired!"

"Your other option is to go to jail."

"Please, have mercy. If this gets out, my career is ruined."

"Umm, frankly? You're screwed either way. Right now. You're deciding who gets to screw you and how hard."

"No. You don't understand. I can deal with jail. I'm a computer technician. Can you imagine what the Kanes would do to me if they knew I was fooling around with their daughter?" Renny paled. "I've said too much."

"No, you haven't. A monkey could tell it was Lilly Kane in these photos," she lied. "But, I'm willing to make a deal."

So it was Lilly. Goodie. Just another reason to keep her on her shit list. She had to think really hard about why she hadn't released the photos of Lilly with the boyfriends of several girls at Neptune High. She was drawing a blank.

Renny nodded emphatically, begging her to name her price.

"You're going to confess to giving out the passwords, and you're going to tell me why you did it. My guess is, Lilly Kane had sex with you in exchange for the passwords."

"Quiet! I told you I would be ruined," he protested.

Veronica kept her eyes trained on him, in case he realized it was easier to _take care _of her than it was to negotiate with her. "Just answer me now, and I promise not to tell anyone about the part with you and her."

"Promise," he asked desperately.

Veronica rolled her eyes and glibly said, "Scout's honor."

After Renny confirmed her suspicions, Veronica gave the edited version of his confession and signed written confession to the school administrators. Keith chose to not think too hard about how Veronica got involved.

Renny was subsequently fired and jailed.

Veronica was never a Girl Scout.

.

Following his dismissal, a disturbingly factual rumor floated around the student body, claiming that Renny had been fired because he gave out some of the students' passwords for sex with one of the girls at their school.

A couple of helpful students told their friends that they saw Veronica going to Renny's office frequently in the past few days, causing the student body's imagination to run wild. Some students thought that Veronica blackmailed him into confessing for something he didn't do. Others said that Veronica was the girl who slept with him and asked him to lie for her. These types of rumors served to make it sound like Veronica was trying to pretend like someone else took the test for her. And, she was just trying to cover up the fact that her score was real.

Interestingly enough, everyone forgot about the purity test debacle when they came into school one day and found the hallway floors littered with glossy 8 x 11 prints of Lilly Kane and a number of boys in various positions. Veronica had left them uncensored, so everyone got quite the eyeful that morning.

Lilly didn't seem to care that people knew, and Veronica didn't think she would. Someone who would do what Lilly did wouldn't care if others found out. Nevertheless, it had the effect that Veronica did want. People were given definitive evidence about what kind of person Lilly was. And, the girls of the boyfriends Lilly had screwed were notably absent from the tables around her. Lilly must have hated losing a few of her adoring fans because of something she thought of as unimportant. Veronica rejoiced at that thought.

As an added bonus, Veronica heard that Lilly had to report to her mother every day after school and follow her around. Veronica knew Lilly hated Celeste; that was about the only thing she was sure Lilly was being honest about during their time together. So, she jumped gleefully when she found out about it.

.

Veronica immediately went in search for Mac to tell her the news about Renny's demise, but she couldn't find her in the parking lot. She walked over to Cassidy and asked him if he knew where Mac was.

"I couldn't find her car anywhere. Is she out sick?"

Cassidy smirked, "Nope."

He pointed behind her to a brand new lime green Beetle.

Through the front windshield, she saw Mac wave happily at the two of them.

She was floored. But then again, it wasn't too farfetched. There was only one person smart enough to set up the purity test. And, she couldn't really resent someone who took sex-crazed 09ers for their allowance money even if it meant she and two others had been momentary casualties.

Meg's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Rumor has it; you're responsible for that IT guy getting fired."

"Which rumor?" She asked good-naturedly.

"The one where you blackmailed him into admitting that he gave out our passwords to a girl in exchange for _things_. The students here aren't dumb, Veronica. They can add."

"I know they can. But usually when they start adding, I get shortchanged."

Meg nodded sadly. "After everyone found out that the guy got fired for giving out passwords, they all assumed that the people who got their accounts broken into had fake scores posted for them. Everyone's been running up to me saying how they never believed I did those things. Cole, even. Not that I care."

Veronica laughed approvingly. "Good. Carmen's not taking Tad back either."

"Yeah, I heard that Carmen was the other girl. Did you ever find out why he did it?"

"Yep. I'll tell you some other day when you're more likely to believe me."

Meg wanted to protest, saying that she trusted her, but she figured Veronica was the one who wouldn't believe her.

Veronica continued, "It's funny though. No one's begging me for forgiveness."

She smiled cheerfully. "That's because Logan's a completely better boyfriend than Cole and never doubted you."

"He's not my boyfriend."

Meg apologized profusely, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I just assumed."

The corner of her mouth lifted in a half smile. "You and everyone else."

Though she denied that Logan was her boyfriend, Veronica couldn't deny that Logan, along with her friends, had been very supportive of her and never believed the rumors about her. Veronica still remembered how Logan got in a fight over it, too.

.

Sitting with Mac on the hood of her new Beetle, Veronica said, "Thanks again for your help, Mac."

"No problem. I didn't really get to show off my _true_ skills though."

Veronica arched her eyebrow. "Are you up for an even bigger job then, Q?"

"Always, Bond. Always."

"Think you can get into some hospitals' databases for me? I need someone's birth records."

"Hospital databases? That's very criminal of you, Bond. And, if we hadn't just started to get to know each other, I'd be insulted that you even had to ask if I could do it. Which hospitals?"

"All the ones in the Los Angeles and San Diego counties."

"Why all of them?"

"Because I don't know exactly where she was born."

"Who's the girl? I might know."

"Lilly Kane."

Mac sharply inhaled. "You're lucky I'm amazingly understanding, discreet, and up to date on the school gossip."

Veronica nodded, "Don't I know it."

.

Lilly paced back and forth like a caged animal in her room. Agitated.

Her father hadn't wanted to listen to her side of the story. She was planning to lie to him about everything, but that wasn't the point. The point was, he didn't give her a chance to talk. He jumped to conclusions and, in her eyes, even he had sided with Veronica. What was wrong with everybody? Why did they keep choosing Veronica over her? What was wrong with _her_?

What did it matter that she had gone around threatening other people? It was their fault for blindly believing her. They were just stupid.

Not only did her father force her to humiliate herself by apologizing to those commoners, her mother had taken her credit cards away to show her that 'she shouldn't be toying with people's lives that like that'. Which Lilly thought was ridiculous, considering the fact that Celeste found out what she and Duncan were up to from one of the employees early on and didn't care until Jake found out about it. It was also hypocritical of her since Celeste was the one who taught her by example how to 'handle upstarts'.

Duncan didn't even get blamed for any of it, she thought furiously.

Lilly angrily threw a delicate vase at the wall opposite to her and it shattered spectacularly in a burst of colorfully hand painted shards.

When she got the email about the purity tests and the subsequent email stating that purity tests could be bought, she immediately formulated her retaliatory attack against Veronica.

Like most men, Renny was all too willing to help her. It didn't hurt that she already had him wrapped around her finger. She messed with the soccer slut's score too because she wasn't worthy enough to date any of the 09ers. She added Meg to the mix after Meg had given her clothes and helped her.

But yet again, Veronica had managed to imprison another one of her lovers. Lilly saw her coming in time and hid herself from view, not that it mattered. The idiot confessed to having sex with a minor anyway, so it had been pointless of her to hide.

Feeling unsatisfied with the amount of broken items in her room, Lilly threw her hairbrush at her vanity mirror. Standing in front of it, she used the tips of her fingers to lightly trace along the spider web cracks of the reflective surface.

She should have completely destroyed Veronica when she had the chance.

She shouldn't have treated Veronica as only a minor annoyance after revoking their friendship. She had been arrogant. That was her mistake, and now she had to fix it.

Though, she doubted she could use the same tactic twice to hurt her.

Veronica was more guarded now, and Lilly felt somewhat pleased for making her that way. No one should have the luxury of living in a safe dream world. Of course, that just made Lilly's job that much harder.

She winced. A hidden jagged edge sliced her index finger open, and droplets of crimson red blood beaded on her ivory skin. The pain drew her from her thoughts. She caught sight of herself in the splintered mirror and her mood darkened considerably.

Chunks of her fair hair fell over her eyes messily from when she pulled at it. Her eyes were red. Cheeks flushed, streaked with salty tears. That was not her. That was _not_ her. She did not cry.

With a shriek that would rival a banshee, Lilly slammed her fist into the mirror that revealed too much of the truth, shattering it completely. She fell back in a heap on her bedroom floor, breathing heavily and clutching her bloodied hand to herself.

She didn't want to see that pathetic face staring back at her anymore.

The endorphins coursing through her veins empowered her and sharpened her focus.

Veronica may act tough, but Lilly knew she still cared about other people. There was no way someone can change that drastically. Not truly. She was still the bleeding heart that Lilly loathed at first sight.

Lilly would bet her vast inheritance on it.

Why else would she bother to help anyone at all?

She planned to hit Veronica where it mattered most.

.

Meg waited by Veronica's locker Monday morning.

Wondering why Meg would be waiting for her, Veronica said, "Hey. Anything wrong?"

"Nope. I've got a secret admirer."

Veronica scratched her head in mock thoughtfulness. Taking out her English book, Veronica said, "Well, I'm pretty sure it's not me. But what do I know?"

"I actually know who it is."

"Not much of a secret admirer then, is he?"

"He forgot to hide his number when he texted me."

Meg shut her locker and linked her arm through Veronica's. She led Veronica down a more deserted hallway.

She tried to pull away from Meg, succeeding only to have Meg end up having to grab hold of her hand, too. She breathed deeply, in and out. She was getting better. She was. It hardly bothered her now; she just preferred people keep their distance. "Oh, God. Meg. Did you want to have girl talk? I can't. I can find you someone else though. Just let me go."

Meg ignored her. "It's Duncan. He asked me out on a date this Friday."

Veronica's eyes widened. Veronica didn't have too many fond memories of Duncan, even less so now than before. She grimaced. "Duncan Kane? That Duncan? Please tell me you know more than one Duncan…?"

Meg furrowed her eyebrows, "You don't think he's a catch?"

Veronica closed her eyes. "What I think is irrelevant. All that matters is whether or not you like him." Giving her an encouraging smile, she said, "Now, if you don't mind. Mr. Daniels expects us to be on time; so, away, I must. That was some quality girl talk, Meg. Let's never do it again. Bye."

She escaped before Meg could grab her again.

.

Veronica had specifically reserved a table in the corner of the restaurant because it was the most secluded spot. She sat with her back to the table at which Meg and Duncan were sitting. Duncan had to have been up to something. She didn't forget his involvement in her less than ideal high school experience. And while she was still wary around him, Veronica had to keep an eye on him in case Meg needed her.

Scanning the menu in his hands, Logan said, "I wish you would have told me sooner that asking me to accompany you on a Friday night because you needed a cover really did mean that you only wanted me to accompany you on a Friday night because you needed a cover."

She looked at him over the top of her own menu, and said, "How was I supposed to know you thought I had something else in mind other than what I specifically told you?"

"You knew exactly what I was thinking when I showed up with flowers. You could've told me then," he replied.

So far, Logan reported that Meg's date was going uneventfully. And, except for the kiss Duncan placed on Meg's forehead, he kept his hands and the rest of his body to himself.

Unlike Logan.

"I told you when we got here." Tersely, she said, "That's my foot."

Logan hummed and replied, "And what a lovely foot it is."

She kicked him away and tucked her legs underneath her chair. "Would you stop molesting it?"

"This is my payment for you tricking me and taking up my Friday night."

He sat back in his seat and moved his leg forward, keeping it pressed against hers. Thankfully, his back had healed enough for him to carry out his usual casual mannerisms.

Veronica observed the boy before her. She felt slightly bad for letting him believe they were going on a date, but she was inwardly happy that he did and she was afraid he would have said no otherwise. He was wearing a dark green dress shirt with grey slacks. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was.

Much to her annoyance, other girls apparently felt the same and openly ogled him.

"You keep staring at me like that, and I'm going to have to do something about it."

She quickly hid herself behind her menu. "You're paranoid."

"And you're not very sneaky for a private investigator."

"I was not looking at you."

"I could feel you staring."

She replied curtly, "Maybe it was one of your fan girls."

He smirked. "Ooh. I get it."

Shutting her menu close, she laid it on the table and flatly said, "No. No ooh. There's nothing to get."

"You're jealous."

He was getting that cute puppy dog look on his face again, and she avoided his eyes in a failing attempt to resist him. "I am not."

His face broke out in a wide grin. "You are."

As a last ditch effort, she threatened him. "If you want to keep my fork from being forcefully inserted into the back of your hand, you should drop it."

"Fine. But, you should know; they can look all they want, but only you're allowed to touch."

A rosy hue splashed across her cheeks and she quickly said, "Whatever. Can you see what Meg and Duncan are up to?"

Casually, he replied, "They left ten minutes ago. Do you think the salmon here is fresh?"

"What?" Veronica whipped her head back to the table Meg and Duncan were sitting at. They were gone. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"And ruin our date?"

"This isn't a date."

"If it looks like a date and feels like a date…"

"It does not," she said childishly.

"You think? We're two people of the opposite sex and appropriate age who happen to like each other and are about to have dinner together on a Friday night at a restaurant. Sounds like a date to me."

"When you put it that way, I would hate to disagree, but I'm going to have to anyway."

"You didn't deny liking me."

She kept her eyes down. "God, as if your head wasn't big enough."

Happily accepting that as the least romantic confession ever, he continued, "And you trust me."

Her eyes jumped to his. "Excuse you?"

"No, really. You do. You might not think so, but you do. I can prove it."

Miffed at his assertion, she gave him a hard look and said, "Go ahead. Since you know _so_ much about me."

"Give me your hand."

She held out her right hand for him.

He took hold of it in one hand and stroked it with his other. "See? You do trust me."

She pulled her hand back and held it close to her chest. "What are you talking about?"

"You let me hold your hand."

"You asked me to give you my hand."

"You didn't have to. You trusted me."

"That's insignificant," she claimed.

"You don't move away when I'm near you. You rely on me. You like me."

"Stop. Fine." Tired, Veronica said slowly, "Suppose I do trust you."

Logan perked up. "Yeah?"

"What happens after that?"

Cheekily, he said, "We live happily ever after. What do you think?"

She folded her hands into her lap neatly. "There are no fairy tales, Logan."

"Even better. I couldn't really picture us boring."

"You picture us as _something_…" Veronica half questioned, half stated; she was surprised.

Logan nodded at her seriously. "I wouldn't be trying so hard otherwise."

Veronica paused before speaking again. "I can't do _this_ right now. Just… take me home?"

Logan motioned for their waiter to pay for their drinks.

Then, he stood and pulled out her chair for her, and she didn't move her hand away when he intertwined his fingers with hers. He walked her to her front door at the risk of Sheriff Mars turning his gun on him.

"I'm sorry for ruining whatever you thought that was."

"You shouldn't be. I think we made some great progress today. You confirmed that you liked me, and I got you open to the idea that you trusted me. All in all, better than what I expected for tonight. I told you I wasn't giving up, Veronica."

She flashed him a crooked smile and tilted her head up to him. "You wouldn't be you if you did."

He softly brushed his lips against her temple quickly. "So, movie night tomorrow?"

She lightly smacked his head. Jokingly, she said, "You're pushing it. Go. How can I realize what a great thing I had if you won't leave?"

"I'm quite confident you know exactly how amazing I am. So, I think I'll spare you the devastation of missing out on my magnificence."

"Goodnight, Logan!" She swiftly pressed her lips to his before opening her door to run inside to safety. She had no idea what possessed her to do it. It was probably his damned endearing persistence and… _everything_.

She groaned.

She was leading him on. It just felt so easy around him. It felt like there was nothing wrong, and she usually had to remind herself that there was. Something incredibly wrong… with her. She was being selfish.

He stopped the door from closing and called after her, "Gee, Veronica. Are you sure this wasn't a date? Because it sure feels like it!"

From the living room, Keith Mars yelled out, "Go home, Logan. And don't even think about coming over tomorrow when I'm not here."

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

To **Nichole**: Boom, baby. ^^ Mac on request (not really). For more Mac-centered goodness, look out for Chapter 11. To **LoVetime**: Nope! Sorry I couldn't reply directly to tell you. To **JeniLyn2000**: Logan doesn't definitively find out about the rape on his own. Casey won't be a main character in this story, but he will pop up as a good guy from time to time. Perhaps I'll include parts about how his family situation turned out. There are a few reasons I can name for why Veronica didn't recognize her mother (she's more focused on Lilly; the video was grainy; her mother was covered up and walking normally; she doesn't like her mother but can't think of her own mother as a cheater, a bit of naïveté), but mostly, I'm going to have to ask for a suspension of disbelief for a few of the things I write. Sorry! To **guest **and **Astranti**: There are a few ways I can explain the Lilly and Duncan threat situation: they're just empty threats, but just a shred of belief in a threat is enough; Lilly is quite manipulative; Lilly and Duncan aren't normal; Lilly and Duncan lie to their parents about what others did to them and their parents take care of the rest willingly; and money talks. But really, I have to ask for a bit of suspension of disbelief (until I get to an explanation). Sorry again, but thanks for not letting me off the hook completely. Keeps me on my toes. ^^

I'm happy you guys liked the last chapter, it was less action than I wanted it to be and I didn't really go as in depth as I could have. I appreciate your enthusiasm, too!

After this chapter, I apologize, but I may have to go on at least a month's hiatus to start buckling down and studying (which is why there was no real immediate cliff hanger). I'll try my best to update when I can and use my down time to continue writing. But, I'm terribly sorry for doing this. I only updated now because I would have felt even worse leaving you guys on that cliffhanger. I will do my best to respond to reviews/messages as best as I can though. I advise guest reviewers to check the reviews page to see if I left any messages for them too since I don't want to leave you guys hanging high and dry.

I probably should just label the parts of the fic with the dates, but… I just haven't figured out the right way to do it, cause there's a bit of jumping around and summarizing and stuff. For those of you who are curious though, Veronica and Wallace's conversation takes place in the first week of November, the purity test fiasco starts the around third week of November, and Logan and Veronica's non date occurs at the beginning of December.

Also, feel free to point out all the inconsistencies in the story or things I should clarify/expand on. Sometimes when I'm writing, I leave things out because I think I already put them in the story because I've written them elsewhere (and maybe accidentally even deleted it), or I put things in that I forgot I was supposed to take out. It's kind of a jumbled mess most of the time.

Fun fact: I mislead readers. Sometimes on purpose, sometimes on accident.

Possible spoilers for next chapter: Party of five for poker. Weevil acquires Duncan's laptop, which happens to be lacking the proper security measures, and passes it to Veronica, advising that she read what's on it. Veronica does some sleuthing for Lynn and discovers a common enemy.


	10. Chapter 10

**King of Mars**

A/N: In other news, I'm back. Sorry for the (much needed) hiatus. On to the story! (Edit: Goshdarnit. This site chose a terrible time to go down. All the changes I made were erased before I could save it. Urgh.)

Chapter 10

.

Dick's buxom avatar successfully decapitated Logan's, and Dick was pronounced the winner.

The two were successfully wasting away their Saturday night with an assortment of two-player fighting games.

"This is stupid," Logan said sourly. That was the fourth time in a row that Dick had beaten him. Usually he wouldn't be losing quite so badly, but the stinging pain of reopened wounds on his back distracted him. It seemed he shouldn't have gone surfing that morning since, while the school had chosen not to suspend him for fighting on school grounds, Aaron took it upon himself to punish Logan in its stead.

Taking a calming breath, he said, "We need refreshments."

Dick tossed the controller at Logan. "Thought you'd never ask, dude."

Like the previous times when Dick wanted to have a serious, and potentially unpleasant, conversation with Logan, he waited until Logan had a few drinks in him first in order to get honest answers.

Once Dick could spot the glazed over appearance of his eyes, he tactlessly asked, "Has Veronica been touching you lately?"

Logan uncharacteristically spluttered, "What?"

Dick realized how badly worded his question was and quickly rephrased it. "I mean. Like, does she punch you and hit you and stuff like before?"

Logan sighed. He should've known Dick was up to something when he had the bottle of vodka readily available. He always did this, taking advantage of his more drunken and open state of mind. Helpless against the effect that the alcohol had on his internal filter, Logan honestly answered, "Yeah, I guess. She tries to keep away half the time though. "

"And she lets you touch her?"

"Not like how you're thinking, you ass. But, it's more like she doesn't stop me… for the most part."

"You don't think that's weird?"

Logan swayed slightly and resigned himself to laying flat on the floor. "Why would it be weird?"

"You really don't know?"

"I'm not drunk enough for riddles, Dick." He took a swig straight from the handle of vodka. With a more noticeably slurred speech, he said, "Not long now, though."

"Look, she may act normal—," he paused, "—normal for her now anyway, around you, but I'm still worried about her. I know we promised to drop it after the eighth time she caught us, but…"

Logan groaned. "Spit it out while I'm still conscious, man."

"I noticed some things before. Remember when she first kinda came back into the real world? She was really jumpy and tense... around everyone. She freaked out when I snuck up on her in the halls to say hi. She froze up kinda like a deer when I tried hugging her to apologize. She even threatened to taser some guy for sitting too close to her in class. That last one may have been a rumor, but it sounds like something she would do, right? I mean, she's a lot less jumpy, with everything now, but it's weird, right? She barely let us within a foot of her… it's like she's afraid of catching something from us or something."

Or maybe she's just afraid, Logan thought. It's not like Logan didn't notice Veronica's acquired distaste for the touch of others. He just didn't care as much as he should because Veronica seemed to make an exception for him.

But now, Dick forced him to really think about her peculiar behavior. And it reminded him exactly why he didn't want to think about it. When Aaron was being more of a despicable bastard than usual, his mother usually bore the brunt of his anger, and for the days or weeks following his outburst, his mother would act like how Dick described Veronica.

However, Logan knew instinctively that Veronica wasn't being abused. Keith was too good of a parent, a _man_, to do that; he loved her too much. And, if Veronica's mother was even that type of person, Keith would, no doubt, protect Veronica at the first sign of trouble. No, Veronica's trauma must have stemmed from something else.

"And, she wasn't like that before that thing… Shelly's thing… the party thing." Logan was developing a splitting headache. He had never felt so frustrated about a party before now.

"She still hasn't told you what happened yet?"

The room was spinning around him. Slowly, he answered, tripping over his words. "Nope. But it's okay. She likes me so she'll tell me eventually. Hey, is it wrong that I like that she's only okay with me touching her and want to keep it that way?"

"Yeah. Yeah, it is," Dick said, amused. There was a moment of silence before Dick asked, "What do you… do you think something _bad_ happened to her?"

When he got no response, Dick looked over at Logan. He was out cold. Maybe he should find a better way to talk openly with Logan.

.

"Hey, Veronica. Were you at The Wellington last Friday?"

Veronica slowed down to allow Meg to catch up with her. The students behind her in the hall didn't appreciate the deceleration and grumbled around her, not that she cared.

"No? I was spending time with my dad at home," she lied easily.

"Are you sure? Duncan and I thought we saw you with Logan. If it wasn't you two, then I guess we left for no reason."

"What do you mean?"

Meg grinned, "Duncan was just being so sweet. He saw you two first and said he didn't want you guys to feel uncomfortable in case you spotted us, so we left to give you guys some privacy. But, I guess if it really wasn't you two…"

"It really wasn't."

"If you say so," Meg singsonged.

Before Veronica could insist that she wasn't there, Logan came up on her other side and hip checked her.

He saluted, "Mars."

"Echolls."

"Hey, Logan."

"Hello to you, Snow White."

Ignoring his nick name for her, Meg innocently said, "So, Logan…"

Logan cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "…Yes?"

"Did you drive Veronica to The Wellington Friday? Or did your driver take you guys?"

Puzzled as to why Meg would want to know, he answered, "I drove us."

"Yeah…" Meg grinned wider. "That's what I thought."

"Amateur. Even Snow White's sneakier than you," Veronica groaned, ushering him away from them. "Let's go, Meg. Who knows what else he'll confess to."

In another corridor and out of Logan's sight, Meg conspiratorially pulled Veronica closer.

Suspicious about Meg's odd behavior, Veronica asked, "What's going on with you, Meg?"

Biting her lip, Meg blurted out, "Do you think I'd look better with longer hair? Should I start curling it? And are my skirts too short? Should I wear pink more? What about my lip gloss?"

Not expecting to hear the odd inquiries, Veronica panicked, debating on whether to run for it or to see if she could take down the blonde who was about three inches taller than her.

Seeing her in fight or flight mode, Meg explained, "It's just. Duncan's been hinting at these things. And I wasn't sure what to do."

At the sight of Meg's distraught countenance, Veronica exhaled deeply. "You're fine, Meg. Super fine. A ten. I'm sure he was just being your typical, insensitive guy. He probably didn't mean anything."

"You think so?"

"I know so. He liked you before you thought about all that stuff, right?"

"Right. I'm just being crazy." Meg released her hold on Veronica, and they walked each other to class.

Veronica was really getting better at these girl talks. Unfortunately.

.

Wallace and Veronica sat alone at their regular lunch table. Following her line of sight to the 09er lunch tables, Wallace teased, "You're a marshmallow, Veronica Mars. A twinkie."

"Not a Mars Bar?" Veronica replied offhandedly before focusing her attention on him.

"Not soft enough."

She folded her arms across her chest. "Quoi?"

"You've been staring at Meg for a while now. Don't think I didn't notice you."

Veronica arched an eyebrow. "She's _very_ attractive."

"See, I was guessing it was you being overprotective now that she's getting familiar with Duncan Kane."

"Now why would I think ever be suspicious of someone from the Kane family?"

Logan came up to their table and sat down, amused by the snippets of conversation he caught. Wallace nodded his head in acknowledgement of Logan's arrival, and Veronica moved to give herself more room away from him.

Wallace snorted. "You know. I heard about you helping that girl find her dog and rescuing all those other dogs, too."

"Now that was on accident. I didn't really expect to find her dog."

"You didn't have to help her to begin with."

"Her puppy didn't have to look so cute."

Fluttering his eyelashes prettily at her, Logan interjected, "It was the big brown eyes that got you, wasn't it? They reminded you of someone?"

Veronica wrinkled her nose and smiled at him. "Yeah. But he wasn't quite so needy."

"Aren't cats the needy ones?"

"I wasn't referring to the dog."

"You won't get any lunch with that attitude."

"Ooh. You brought lunch today? Gimme, gimme."

"Don't act like you didn't text me this morning demanding I get you sushi for lunch."

Wallace looked incredulously at him and shook his head in disbelief. "Man, she got you running out to get food for her? You are whipped."

"Can't a guy do something nice for his gal without being called whipped?"

Keeping his eyes on him, he said, "Nope."

Veronica rolled her eyes. She felt like she had repeated it so many times at this point, but still insisted, "And, I'm not 'your gal'."

"Of course not," Wallace and Logan said simultaneously.

Wallace mimed cracking a whip.

Veronica ignored them as they talked about the upcoming basketball season for the rest of the lunch period.

She contemplated Wallace's words in her head. Should she be sad that people didn't see her as someone not to be messed with? Disappointed that it was harder to completely cut ties from who she was before? Or angry because she was reminded of her lack of progress with finding out who raped her? Though, to be honest, for the sake of her sanity, she had recently developed the habit of keeping most thoughts involving her rape in the very far back recesses of her mind.

.

Veronica wanted to tell her parents what she was doing after school now that soccer season was over—current reigning county champions, thank you very much—and rearranged her schedule to help out during the weekends at the station instead, but it would just add extra strain onto their marriage.

When they heard about her involvement with the dognapping ring, neither were very pleased with how she came to solving it. However, while her father was angry at her for putting herself in a potentially dangerous situation, he did say he was proud of her and her investigative skills.

Her mother, on the other hand, was just angry. She demanded that Veronica stop acting so recklessly and just be a normal teenage girl. When her father defended her desire to do the right thing and to help, it sparked a string of hushed arguments and cold shoulders.

No, it would be best to keep her side business to herself. Instead, she told them that she would be doing schoolwork with Logan most days after school since they had all their classes together. Veronica suspected there was a bit of schmoozing involved to make that happen but never asked Logan.

Sitting at the Echolls family's kitchen counter, Veronica started compiling a file on Jackson Douglas' parents. She wasn't too keen on helping someone rebel against their parents, but for two hundred dollars, she was willing to do a small favor for a 'friend'.

Across from her, Logan diligently pretended to work on his chemistry homework. In actuality, he was analyzing her appearance, as if her secrets were written on her skin somewhere. When he woke up on the floor of Dick's room, there was dread in the pit of his stomach and it took a few moments to realize that not all of it was due to the alcohol. How does one go about determining whether or not the girl they liked was sexually assaulted?

He wracked his mind trying to figure out how he should act around her, too, until he rationalized that she wouldn't be around him if she wasn't okay with how he usually acted. So, he acted as if he hadn't had that disturbing revelation of what could have happened to her. And while that rationalization comforted him, it brought him no closer to figuring out what really happened to her. Was he right? Or, he hoped, was he wrong?

Since her father was the Sheriff, something should have been done if she was raped. But, since her _father_ was the Sheriff, she might not have reported it.

He lifted his gaze from her hands to her face and finally noticed that she was looking at him.

Caught, Logan casually said, "So I was thinking of throwing a poker game with some of the guys."

"And you want me to teach you how to play?"

"What do you know about poker?"

She spun the pencil in her hand nonchalantly. "A few things."

"I'll keep that in mind when I decide to play strip poker."

"I'd have you down to your skivvies," she said confidently.

"Would that be before or after we play strip poker?"

She threw the pencil at his head and returned to compiling the dossier.

.

A few days later at school, Weevil had cornered Veronica at her locker to ask her to help him get into Logan's poker game.

"Why do you even want to play poker with them? I'm sure your buddies can play just as well."

"It's a thousand dollar buy in. Winner takes all. With those guys? Easy money."

Veronica let out a low whistle. "Money is so wasted on the rich. Why should I help?"

"I seem to recall you needing me as backup for that dog thing."

She snapped her fingers in mock disappointment. "Curse my inability to look like a tough guy."

"Well. I was kinda banking on you using your _feminine_ wiles to get him to let me in anyway."

Veronica blanched. "Please, stop. If you promise never to say 'feminine wiles' ever again, I'll ask him now."

.

She tapped him on his shoulder in chemistry.

"Can you do a favor for me?"

"Alright. But I insist we play poker normally first _before_ strip poker to at least set up some pretense of propriety."

"I didn't know they let pigs on airplanes now."

Leaning towards her, he spoke in a suggestive voice, "Ask away."

"What would it take for you to put Weevil into your poker game? He has the buy in money. All he wants is to win all of yours, too."

"Is that so? Well, then... from you, Miss Mars?... I would like a kiss."

Veronica choked. "Excuse me?"

Logan couldn't help laughing. The look on her face was priceless. "Stop. I was joking. You don't have to do anything. Dick dropped out and I was looking for a replacement anyway. And as long as no one sees him coming into my house without a pool skimmer, we're all winners."

"Oh, great then," she said, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice.

Speaking low so only she could hear, he said, "Or maybe, I'll take that kiss at a later date."

Sitting back in his chair, he gave her an appraising look.

Wanting to hide from his scrutiny, she went to her seat and directed her attention to the teacher preparing the board.

.

Thanks to her flat tires, courtesy of Lilly, no doubt, and lack of enough spare tires, Veronica had to have her father drop her off at Logan's under the guise of working on a health class project together. Truthfully, she just needed a place to work on digging up dirt on her classmates' parents away from Keith or Lianne's eyes.

"I don't see why you have to walk me in."

"I just want to know if Logan's parents are home."

"I told you his mother is usually home in the afternoons."

"I want to make sure."

"But why?"

She was practically cringing with embarrassment now. She could only think of one reason why her father would show up at Logan's in his Sheriff's uniform.

"I'm a concerned father of a pretty teenage daughter. No matter how smart she is, I can't, in good conscience, allow her to be alone in a house with a teenage boy without supervision."

Yep. That would be it.

Keith knocked on the door. "You're just lucky I didn't check up on this arrangement earlier."

The door swung open and Keith had to force himself to keep from laughing at the way Logan's face visibly fell when he saw Keith.

"Hi, Sheriff..."

"Dad," Veronica piped up from behind her father, "Stop smiling at him like that. It's creepy."

Logan relaxed slightly. "Please, come in. Welcome to our humble abode." He stepped aside and bowed dramatically at the two of them. "What can I do for you, Sheriff?"

"Nothing really. I just thought I'd check out the place my daughter's been going to everyday after school instead of her own home. As a father, it's my duty to make sure my daughter and her male friend were properly supervised. And that she's properly embarrassed."

"Dad!" Veronica groaned.

He nodded while chuckling good naturedly. "It's fine, Veronica. I'll get my mom for you."

.

"Hello, Keith. This is certainly a surprise."

"Hi, Lynn."

"Logan's not in any trouble is he?"

"No. This is a purely personal visit. I wanted to make sure either you or Aaron were home while Veronica was over. She hasn't been giving you any trouble has she?"

"Oh, no. Veronica's a darling. While you're here, would you like to have a drink with me?"

"No, thank you. I should go back on duty soon."

Keith watched as Lynn busied herself with filling a glass with a deep amber liquid. At three in the afternoon.

"How have you been, Lynn?"

"I'm busy, mostly, preparing for my Christmas party. Aaron's home for the holidays, so that's nice, and Logan is doing well in school. We're so proud of him." She paused, hesitating. Though she did wish he would do a better job of staying out of trouble. "Everything's just so fantastic and _alive_ during this season, don't you think?"

Keith nodded along. "But how are _you_?"

Lynn took a seat on the couch, and Keith followed her.

"I'm not sure what you mean," she laughed uneasily.

"Is there anything you needed to talk with someone about? All the cons tell me I can be a very good listener."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I'm pretty good at reading people. And you look tired around the edges. Still beautiful, of course," he assured. "But, tired nonetheless."

She was silent for a long time, but Keith patiently waited for her.

Internally, she debated whether or not to tell the friendly town Sheriff about her troubles. She already knew she couldn't talk about this to any of her other friends. The gossip would spread like herpes.

But, he seemed so earnest and genuine.

Finding her resolve, she admitted, "I think Aaron is having an affair."

"You think he's cheating on you?"

Lynn flinched. Her phrasing sounded so much better and a lot kinder to her ears. She took a long sip from her drink. "It's not the first time, trust me."

"Pardon me for being so blunt here, but if you know that, why do you care this time?"

"I'm considering a divorce," she said shortly. "And, I need some sort of evidence to prove that he violated our prenup. I was thinking about hiring an investigator to follow him. But there's no one I can trust. That Van Lowe person was the worst out of all of them."

Keith grimaced. "Yeah, that's Vinnie for you. You were smart not to hire him."

"It's just… I don't know what to do now. I need to get away from him, Keith. But everything's under his name, so I can't just leave without that evidence. I'd be ruined."

"If you're serious about this…"

"I really am. This time, I am," she said, seemingly to convince herself more than for Keith's benefit. "Things have to change."

Hesitantly, he stated, "I think I have someone who can help you then. I guarantee they'll be very discreet."

"Do you really? And you're sure they won't say anything?"

"I do, and I'm sure."

Lynn finally put down her drink and grasped both of Keith's hands in appreciation. "Thank you so much. I had no idea what to do." She looked panicked for a moment. "But he really can't find out, Keith. I don't know what he'd—" She swallowed her words and shook her head. "He just can't find out."

"He won't, Lynn. Not from my guy. I promise."

"Thank you…"

"I'll see myself out now unless there was something else?..."

"No." She smiled thinly. "No, that's it."

Keith got in the squad car, wondering if he should have gotten Lynn to talk about the rest of what was bothering her. But, for now, he was happy he could at least try to help her with one of her current predicaments.

Veronica didn't think he knew that she was learning from and working with Vinnie, but he did. Vinnie had gone to him and confessed after Veronica had gotten scraped up over the summer. He didn't even know she was hurt. But when Vinnie told him, he had been blinded with anger. He was angry at Vinnie for not protecting her better, at Veronica for putting herself in dangerous situations, and at himself for not noticing that she had been sneaking out at night.

If he hadn't been working late nights at the station to avoid coming home to argue with Lianne, he might have been able to stop her the first time she even tried it. However, after a very long and silent moment, accompanied by thoughts about how he had gotten to where he was, he calmed enough to think about things rationally.

Veronica was a young girl, but she was smart and independent. She was taking tae kwon do lessons, and now he knew why, too. She was capable, and he trusted her. Whatever she was doing with Vinnie had to be something she needed to do. What else would be the reason for her sudden interest in PI work? And as smarmy as Vinnie was, Keith knew he was very capable at his job. So, Keith decided to let her be, but ordered Vinnie to keep an eye on her at all times, never allow her to work solo missions, and to report back to him every time.

From Vinnie's reports, Keith was proud of what she had been able to accomplish, outside of the sleazy stakeouts—which Keith had subsequently taken off the list of things Vinnie could let her do—and he was impressed with her obvious talent for the job.

That was his little girl: sneaky, _resourceful_. And God, he hoped he wouldn't regret letting her have her independence.

But now, it seemed, it was time to let the cat out of the bag.

Though it was a little ironic that he'd want her for the type of job that he'd forbidden Vinnie to give her, Veronica would be the perfect person to help Lynn.

.

"Sorry about that," Veronica apologized as they sat up in his room—with the door open, as stipulated by Keith.

"It's really fine, Veronica. It's nice to see a father who cares."

"But completely embarrassing," she replied easily but still having the decency to look slightly ashamed at her faux pas. Her father was a saint compared to his, and she was complaining about him wanting to make sure she was safe. A 'insert foot in mouth' situation if there were ever any.

Seemingly unaffected, Logan slyly said, "Well. If it makes either of you feel better, I completely understand why he's concerned. I wouldn't leave you alone with me either."

"But last time turned out so well."

At his silence and raised eyebrows, she realized what she said.

She futilely said, "Shut up." She'd need both feet in her mouth at this point.

Logan lifted his hands in surrender but kept the smile on his face.

.

Oh, God. Oh, _God_. She couldn't believe she was following Aaron Echolls home... _after_ spending hours following him to see if he would meet up with a hussy.

More so, she couldn't believe her father had known about what she was doing at night and didn't stop her. Okay, it was kinda believable that he'd find out. But, the fact that he didn't ground her or tie her down to the house until she was forty was mind blowing.

Certain that Aaron wasn't leaving again for the night, Veronica unsuccessfully called it quits for the day. Remembering that Logan's poker party was today, Veronica made her way to the pool house to see if she could teach the boys that fools and their money parted quickly.

Entering through the glass doors, Veronica looked around the pool house in confusion. It was in complete. Thinking about all the possible reasons for the pool house being trashed, she wasn't ready to be surprised by Logan.

In her ear, Logan whispered, "Boo."

Veronica jumped. "Damnit, Logan."

He chuckled to himself.

Her shock from being snuck up on was nothing compared to the shock she received from seeing Logan standing unabashedly in what appeared to be reindeer boxers.

He snapped his fingers to get her attention. "My eyes are up here, Veronica."

Covering up her embarrassment with words, Veronica sighed in mock disappointment. "The pretty ones are always so high maintenance."

"Why are you doing here? It's late... not that I would mind a certain late night call of sorts from you."

"Just thought I'd partake in the late night debauchery. But, I take it you guys definitely finished that part already…"

"Ha. Not exactly… No."

"What happened? Where are the guys... and your clothes for that matter?"

"In short, someone stole the money."

"And the long version?"

"Weevil decided that one of us had to have stolen the money."

"Wait, Weevil? Did Weevil win?"

He smiled wryly. "It was… a miscalculation on my part."

Laughing openly, she asked, "Who was playing?"

"It was me, your buddy Weevil, Sean, Connor, and Duncan."

"Connor?"

"Larkin."

"Connor Larkin," she repeated.

Noticing her the awed inflection in her voice, he quickly said, "He's a mortal, believe me. They just draw his abs on. Mine, on the other hand, you can touch and see for yourself."

Veronica ignored his invitation, but she couldn't say she wasn't tempted. Damn. Bad Veronica. "Is he doing another movie with Aaron?"

"Yeah, but they're on break for the holidays. And, he was going to stay in town still they started filming again, so I invited him."

Veronica tilted her head in consideration. "You invited Sean and Duncan, too… I didn't realize we were making nice with them."

He hung his head slightly and explained, "Sean wouldn't shut up about how I was afraid to play him. And Meg begged me to invite Duncan."

"Meg?" Veronica asked. "I don't suppose you asked her for a kiss, too."

"Jealous?"

"Of you."

When Logan didn't respond, Veronica clapped her hands. "Hey, focus. Whatever you were thinking about just now? Never happening."

"Never say never, bobcat." He grinned mischievously. "Anyway, I didn't ask her for anything, but she did seem to think very highly of him and thought we could make up and be friends again."

"She's really, really…"

"Optimistic? Naïve?"

She didn't answer.

Logan smiled tersely. "In her defense, she did say that Duncan was 'really sorry'."

"Aren't they all?" She motioned for him to continue his story, not wanting Logan to dwell on his lost friendship with Duncan for too long.

"Weevil had us strip to prove that we didn't have it."

"Lucky boy. He got to see all this and didn't want to stick around?"

"They just don't appreciate works of art like they used to."

She rolled her eyes snorted unprettily. "And the mess?"

"If it wasn't on any of them, it had to be somewhere in the room, right?"

"And… no luck, I'm guessing?"

"You got it."

Switching to business mode, Veronica said, "Okay. You're going to tell me everything you remember. Don't leave out anything, especially the parts where anyone left the table."

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"What good are my super powers if I don't help the little people?"

Logan told her about everything from Duncan's singing, the pizza delivery, to the rest of them inappropriately ogling his mother, to Weevil proclaiming he'd take something from each of them as collateral until the money showed up, and finally to him tearing the place apart for the five grand.

.

The next day at school, Veronica was treated to the sight of Duncan shoving Weevil up against a row of lockers.

"I want my laptop back!" He barked.

Weevil easily shoved him back, but before he could do any damage in retaliation, Veronica got in between the two of them.

"Cool it, both of you!"

"This isn't your problem, chica."

"Think again, _Eli_. I'm going to figure this out and get you your money back, but you can't go around beating people up in retaliation, especially when they were only acting like that because you stole something from them."

"Stole from them? Nah. Their items must have just disappeared."

"You have my laptop," Duncan asserted, glaring at him and breathing heavily.

"It'll show up when my money does."

"Walk away, Duncan. You'll get your laptop back eventually, but for now, I don't think your parents would like hearing about you getting into a fight."

Eying Veronica in what Veronica guessed was confused anger, he left without another word.

"Tell me everything."

Weevil sighed, but acquiesced, figuring that it was quicker to just go along with her than to refuse until she wore him down. He preferred to at least make it look like he was doing it on his terms.

Weevil basically gave her the same story that Logan did. He didn't say what he took from each boy, but Veronica had already figured that that wasn't important for the time being. Though, her interest piqued when he smirked at her after saying that he saw some very interesting things in Logan's locker when he happened to have the chance to look inside, for safety reasons, he claimed. Unfortunately, he pleaded the fifth when she asked him what he was getting at, probably not for the first time in his life, claiming that the guy code just wouldn't let him do it, causing her to narrow her eyes in suspicion at him.

Clearly, everyone chose today to act crazy.

Readjusting her bag's shoulder strap, she went in search of the remaining players of the poker game to get their version of events, getting Logan to help her question Connor Larkin, whose muscles were not nearly as nice as Logan's, not that she noticed, when the other boys' stories weren't quite enough.

.

Hector stared in disbelief at Weevil as he walked to the benches where a group of other bikers sat.

"Hey, Weevil. What the hell was that?"

Weevil took his seat as the head of the PCHers. "It was nothing. I've got better things to do than waste my time teaching that gringo a lesson."

"So you're just going to let him walk?"

Weevil locked eyes with Hector and menacingly growled, "Are you questioning me?" He would not tolerate insubordination in his gang, and it was best to dispel any notions.

Flustered by Weevil's suddenly agitated state, Hector submitted quickly. "No, Weevil... Nah, man. It was just... it just wasn't like you to let him go, you know? It might've looked bad for us, too. And, you've been going on hanging around with that Sheriff's kid a lot… people have been saying some things. And, I was just thinkin'—"

"Well, don't. It's not your job to think," Weevil interjected. "I got this, alright?"

It was true that he had been interacting with Veronica a lot more than he ever thought he would, but he was mostly just giving her information and providing some muscle to help with her cases in the name of their quid pro quo relationship. However, it was because he had been hanging around Veronica so often that he picked up a few things, too. And, the most important thing he learned while watching her work was that everyone had something to hide.

Judging by that Kane boy's reaction to having his laptop stolen, he was definitely hiding something on there. Hopefully, something that Weevil could sell to the highest bidder.

.

Veronica entered the pool house, waving her hands with a flourish. "Well aren't we cozy?"

The guys were seated at the poker table, eager to find out what happened with the money.

"Blondie, you wanna hurry it up? It's almost Christmas, and spending it with these guys ain't exactly at the top of my list."

"Please, half those knuckleheads aren't even on the list for me. But first, a little bit of a deal. I give you guys your thief, and I get to take his seat at the table. Unless you guys still want to play with him."

Sean squirmed in his chair and crossed his arms, remembering the last time he saw her. "You even know how to play?"

Batting her eye lashes and speaking cutely, she said, "It can't be too hard if you know how."

Logan wiggled his fingers at her, "Cute. But, it's a deal. Go, Nancy Drew. Amaze us."

"Prepare to be dazzled, Jake." Veronica winked, leaving the other boys in confusion. "For my first trick, I'm going to need a drink."

Weevil was losing patience with her theatrics. "What. You want a sodey-pop or somethin'?"

He spent a lot of late nights in the past couple of days combing through Duncan's laptop and was highly irritable in his sleep deprived state. Unfortunately for him, Duncan's laptop was mostly filled with crap for school, X-rated porn, and G-rated family pictures. He was hoping something better would show up and finally stumbled onto Duncan's online diary. After laughing with his little niece and grandmother about how a teenage boy kept a diary, he began to read it. He was already a quarter of the way through his journal now, and he had to say, that boy had some serious issues. But, it was potentially good blackmail material.

Veronica declined and suggested, "Maybe something with a little more kick?"

She grabbed Duncan's liquor bottle from the table and held it up to examine it.

"Hey, no," he protested too late.

"If you all would be so kind as to taste the contents?"

Certain of her reasoning, but still wizened from experience, she handed the bottle to the boys. Each boy took a drink and passed it along until the bottle had made it around the table, their faces showing their growing confusion.

Connor finally said, "Was that iced tea?"

"Oh, Connor. I don't care what they say. You are smarter than you look."

"Thanks. My sister says the same thing," Connor smiled sincerely at the table, to which Logan responded with a smile that someone would generally reserve for a child while shaking his head.

"Yeah…" Duncan said, resigned.

"How very musical theater of you." Veronica explained, "Duncan can't remember the alphabet when he drinks, let alone figure out twenty percent of the pizza bill. But, he didn't play drunk to steal your money; he played drunk to win your money. To no avail it seems."

Walking around the table to stand behind Connor, Veronica continued, "Oh, and Connor isn't a drug addict. I know, the constant bathroom visits. He wasn't going for a fix. He was going because of the Sun Tea."

She pointed to his current cup of tea. "It's that diuretic wrestlers down when they need to make weight or that actors use before they're half naked on the cover of 'Vanity Fair'."

Sean, Weevil, and Logan tried to stifle their laughter, and Connor shrugged.

She then rounded the table again to stand next to Logan. "Then there's my assistant. He certainly had the access. Looks like an evildoer, smells like an evildoer—"

"I'm flattered by your intimate knowledge of my scent."

She ignored his interruption. "—but surprisingly... not so much. Weevil cleared him. Weevil told me he searched the room but didn't go through it as much as he wanted. When I visited, it looked like it had been raided by the FBI, and he couldn't have known I was coming by so soon after."

Tapping his chin, Weevil said, "Yeah. When exactly did you visit? My grandmother goes to work for them pretty early in the morning."

"Please hold questions until the end of the show," she said in a rush before continuing with her demonstration. "If Logan took the money and hid it, he wouldn't have had to tear the room apart looking for it. So, two left. The boy from the wrong side of the tracks and the boy who lives in the most expensive house in the 09er zip."

Veronica placed her hands on the back of Sean's chair and leaned forward. "So, do you want to hear how Sean did it? Yes, he's a crafty little bugger."

Sean looked worriedly at Weevil whose expression grew grim.

"Sean didn't bring the Big Mouth Joes because he's cheap. He knew he couldn't leave without the money, so he didn't. What happens to garbage in the 09er zip? He just waited for the recycling to go out the next day and did a little garbage picking."

"_Sean_? What? The guy has a chauffeur drive him to school every day. Why would he need to steal?"

"Seriously? Questions? At the end. As I was saying, when I went to Sean's, I couldn't help but wonder what was his dad doing at home, three in the afternoon, dressed in a suit instead of being at work… unless he was at work." Veronica straightened her stance. "I have to say, I was a bit miffed. I was this close to being able to say the butler did it. But no, it was the butler's son."

Grasping at straws, Sean declared, "That doesn't prove anything."

"Well, that proves that you're a liar, and the background check I ran on you proves that you've got a shoplifting problem. You are really bad at it."

"That's enough for me." Weevil stood from his seat and headed for Sean, pulling him up as well.

"I can totally pay you," he stammered. "I have the money, I can get it now."

"Oh, we'll get to that. Why don't we take a walk so we can discuss a few things first, huh?"

"But you see, I can pay you, see, there's really no need for physical violence."

"Whoa. Who said anything about physical violence? I just wanted to talk."

With that, Veronica sat herself down in Sean's vacated seat.

Grabbing the deck of cards, she shuffled them expertly and cheekily asked, "Mind if I deal first?"

.

By the end of the night, Weevil pocketed his original roll of cash that he had recollected from Sean, minus the thousand dollars for most recent game.

Duncan and Connor had long since lost and left, and Weevil was on his way out, leaving Veronica and Logan to play for the grand prize. However, before he could leave, Logan caught him at the door and told him he wanted his item back. Adjusting his leather jacket and sizing him up, Weevil glanced back at Veronica who was busy trying to look like she wasn't watching the two of them and pulled something out of the pocket to hand off to him.

Satisfied that his item wasn't improperly treated, Logan bade him goodbye and stowed it away in another room. He then returned to his seat at the table as if the exchange hadn't just happened.

Stacking her chips into neat piles, Veronica stated, "I'm going to figure out what he took from you that was oh so top secret eventually."

"You don't mind if I wait for the good cop, bad cop role play, do you?"

"It's your turn to deal, Echolls."

"You know, it's just you and me now. This would be the perfect time to get started on that game of strip poker."

"Let it go, Logan."

"See. This is just a waste," Logan muttered petulantly.

Veronica ended up winning the pot and tossed her jacket at him as a consolation prize, in lieu of actually playing strip poker with him.

.

When she opened her door, she hadn't been expecting anyone in particular. Nevertheless, she still hadn't been expecting to see Weevil standing at her doorstep ever either.

"Hey, V."

The biker was uncharacteristically humble and soft spoken. He kept his eyes to the ground and hands clasped together, holding a laptop. And when she opened the door wider, he hugged her. This was just too weird.

"Hey, Weevil," she said, frozen with her face in his jacket. "It's nice to see you too. What brings you to my neck of the woods? Please let me go."

He finally let her go when she started actively pushing against him and nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "I, uh, I came to give you this."

"What, no gift wrap?" She wrapped her arms across her chest protectively.

"It's not a gift. It's Duncan Kane's."

"Oh," she uttered simply. "Why don't you just give it back to him yourself?"

"I thought. I don't know what I thought." Getting antsier by the second, he shoved the laptop into her hands and said, "You should just take a look at what's on it. No. You _need_ to. I don't know. Look at it. You'll know what I mean when you see it," he urged. "And you need me for anything, I'll be there. Just tell me how you wanna handle it. No questions asked." He quickly hugged her again before leaving and mumbling, "Merry Christmas, V."

"Thanks," she slowly replied, bewildered by his odd demeanor. "Merry Christmas, Eli."

In the middle of hastily wrapping presents for her family and the few people she felt she could perhaps call close friends before the Christmas Eve deadline a mere few hours away, Veronica set the laptop aside and decided to just copy the contents of his laptop onto an external hard drive for another time. She'd give the laptop to Meg to give to Duncan tomorrow, feeling it best to avoid direct contact with either one of the Kane siblings.

Indirect contact was another story. She was still following Lilly. And to her eternal displeasure, if there ever was an understatement, her following Lilly and her following Aaron had turned into her occasionally following Lilly and Aaron at the same time as they met at the Neptune Grande for what she could tell were two-hour long afternoon trysts.

Unfortunately, there was no real money shot due to the hotel's discretion, and she was very reluctant to hand anything over to her father to give to Lynn until she had something definitive. It was important that the facts were straight and irrefutably damning if she wanted to help Lynn.

.

Christmas dinner with the Mars was once a pleasant affair; Veronica was sure of it. But maybe it was because she had been naïve back then.

Luckily, the door bell rang and she jumped from her seat to save herself from the tense sounds of people cutting into their food and not much else.

Logan leaned against her door frame, clutching a two plainly wrapped presents. "Merry Christmas, Veronica Mars."

"And a Merry Christmas to you, Logan Echolls. Don't you have a boat to catch or something?"

"I doubt my parents would leave without their only son, but then again, you've seen my parents, so you know that doubt isn't very founded. Either way, I couldn't leave without giving you your present."

"Ooh, presents? Why didn't you say so before?

They got to exchanging gifts when Veronica returned from her room with Logan's gift, which was wrapped in a reindeer wrapping paper that looked suspiciously like the pair of boxers she had found him in after the first poker game. He knew she couldn't resist looking.

Sitting back at the table, her mother asked, "Who was it, sweetie?"

"Just Logan. He wanted to give me my present before he left for Cabo."

"That's nice of him," Lianne awkwardly replied.

The family then diligently returned to cutting their food into increasingly smaller pieces.

Finding her meal difficult to enjoy, Veronica suggested they finish up soon and start opening presents.

Things definitely seemed better when she was more naïve.

.

Veronica tore herself away from the TV after hearing a knock at her door. She had been watching the delayed coverage of the ball drop from Times Square with her mother and father until they turned themselves in an hour ago. She noted, however, that her father went to sleep in the guest room.

Though, when she was sitting between her parents and watching the television with them in silence, she couldn't help but wish that she had taken either Wallace or Mac up on their offers to spend New Year's with one of them. But, not wanting to choose and potentially slight the person that she didn't choose, Veronica diplomatically claimed it was tradition that she spend that time with her parents. Which, it kinda was, unfortunately. And, Veronica neglected to mention that her parents usually went to sleep early, and she typically followed suit not long after.

Making her way to the door and opening it, she remarked, "My parents are asleep."

Undeterred, Logan stepped through the doorway, "And?"

"My father keeps a gun under his pillow."

"You don't think he'd appreciate me checking up on you for him then?"

"You? Definitely not."

"But he's not up…"

"No…"

"Excellent. Just making sure." He sauntered down the familiar hallway to the living room and sat down next to where he guessed Veronica was sitting. "Did you like my present?"

She sat back down in her seat, which Logan had correctly guessed, and made herself comfortable once more. "Yep. Both of them. I think Backup appreciated your jacket a lot more than I did, though."

"He has good taste, doesn't he?" Logan responded affectionately.

"I guess that means I won't be getting mine back?"

"You threw it at me, and finders, keepers."

"Fine. Anyway, I personally liked the nifty stun gun a lot better."

"I thought you'd appreciate a more compact version."

"Oh, I do. My future victims?" She tented her fingers deviously. "Probably not so much. Thank you, though. Really. Did you open mine yet?"

"Yes. They're currently in my bedroom in an appropriate place of worship. Of course, you realize I'm forced to wear them every time we watch the movie, right?"

She was relieved that he'd liked them. Veronica had no idea what to get for someone who had everything, so when her father had mentioned his friend had given him a remake of the brief case from _Pulp Fiction_, she immediately thought of Billy's sunglasses from _Easy Rider_. Billy was Logan's favorite character from the movie, and she remembered Logan telling her that he liked Billy's sunglasses because it was hard for anyone to read him when he had them on. And, of course, because it made him look cooler.

Unfortunately, Veronica's search for the authentic sunglasses had led her to a dead end, the sunglasses Dennis Hopper wore had been misplaced and were lost. However, the stage hand she had talked to was able to give her the brand and style of the exact pair of sunglasses he wore. And for their price, she was thankful she won the poker game.

"I'm just lucky you aren't planning to grow a hippie 'stache. I'm glad you liked them, though. I didn't know what to get."

"I'm a relatively easy man to please, Veronica."

"I guess next time you're just getting something shiny. Then I won't have to anguish over what to get you again."

"Something shiny? Ooh, you've been reading my diary."

"With my super secret spy camera," she mock confessed. "So what're you doing here? You're not still celebrating with your parents in Cabo?"

"Mom wanted to go home early because she couldn't stand staying on the boat anymore. I personally believe that it was because she couldn't stand Aaron, but what can you do."

"But, Dick and Cassidy are throwing a party, and I'm sure you were invited. So I have to ask again, what are you doing _here_?"

"Ringing in the New Year with you instead."

"You would miss out on girls that may quite possibly be even easier than you claim to be to stay at home with me?"

"Yes. Feel free to swoon in appreciation any time you want."

"Ever the gentleman."

As the pair watched the flashes of color burst across the screen, Logan casually asked, "You said you never stayed up til midnight for New Year's, right?"

"Yeah. This'll be the first time for me. It technically wouldn't even be the first if you didn't come by, actually. I was planning to sleep at eleven."

"Well I guess I'll just have to make your first time memorable, won't I?"

"You'll spoil me," she said, her voice thick. She would not think of the other _first time_ that was taken away from her. Not now. Not while Logan was with her.

"Maybe I just want to bring you down to my level... Do you know about any traditions that happen at midnight?"

Looking at him and tilting her head, she replied, "Other than the start of many doomed New Year's resolutions involving losing weight?"

"Yeah. Other than that."

"Nope. Do you?"

"Yeah. Just one though. I'll show you later," he said, taking advantage of her heightened curiosity and lowered guard to wrap an arm around her and bring her closer to him.

Seeking solace from her troubled thoughts, Veronica didn't resist and rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Okay."

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

Timeline overview: First week of December. Veronica helps with the dognapping case. Veronica fortuitously starts her business of digging up information on the other students' parents. Second week of December. Veronica starts following Aaron. Third week of December. Logan throws his poker game. Fourth week of December. Logan throws the second poker game. Fifth week of December. Winter break officially begins. Weevil gives Duncan's laptop to Veronica. First week of January. Logan surprises Veronica on New Year's.

There was sooo much I wanted to do with the Logan and Veronica, but I thought it was still too early for Veronica since the issue of her rape still hasn't been resolved yet and she still feels insecure. Some of you may have noticed I tweaked the ending a little. Just thought they deserved a little bit of a break.

To **JeniLyn2000**: I don't suppose you see what Duncan's up to? Definitely still disturbed. To **alisosia**: It's almost here. Mac will be featured a lot more in the next chapter! To **guest1**: I hope you caught the message I left for everyone, including you, in the reviews! And I'm glad you feel sorry for Lilly. I really wanted to make her into a more sympathetic character. To **calypso**: Sorry. I was, unfortunately, serious about that hiatus. To **guest2**: Ta da. To **spoilerlover**: Cassidy is not going to be a sociopath, and Mac's relationship status is a secret. ^^ I still haven't put much thought into giving Wallace some lovin', but I'm really keen on that idea, so it's a definite possibility.

Fun fact: I went a _little_ crazy while studying/writing my essays and almost spammed my lovely reviewers with snippets of random LoVe scenes and ideas for new stories. You guys just _barely_ dodged a bullet. _Barely. _Funny thing though. Couldn't remember how to write a proper essay for my test. Still can't. Also, it's either very early in the morning or very late at night as I write this. So, mistakes, inconsistencies, or general weirdness? Feel free to point them out.

Possible spoilers for the next chapter: Mac.

Also, if I missed personally replying to or thanking anyone. I'm sorry. It's been stressful for the past few weeks. But it's five a.m.; I've been working on it since I finished my test Wednesday, and I'm posting it now because I feel guilty. Consider this a rough cut. Or the final version, depending on how I feel in a few hours when I wake up again. I was super determined to get this chapter out by the end of the week, so it may be a bit choppy and undetailed, but. Ta da. Hope you all enjoyed it. Now that school's starting and I still have apps (with a looming deadline) to do, I can't update like I used to, but at least the gaps between updates will be (hopefully) a lot shorter. Thank you for taking the time to read these crazy author's notes (and the story), by the way. ^^

I'm somewhat sorry for the people who read my chapters right after I post them, though, because I keep finding mistakes or better ways to write certain events only after the fact. So yeah. Sorry… you guys should probably check for updated versions of the chapter. Or not, they're not particularly big changes. ._.

/Rambling over.


	11. Chapter 11

**King of Mars**

A/N: You guys should probably go back to skim through the last chapter since I changed a few things, for example: a scene explaining why Weevil would even go through Duncan's laptop, and the ending scene with Veronica and Logan. Onward! But first, full disclosure, I would really like your feedback on this chapter to possibly make some changes with some of the scenes; you'll know what I mean when you read it. Also, flashbacks in italics.

Chapter 11

.

Mac and Veronica sat on the hood of Veronica's car after school let out on the first day back from break.

"So I heard you and Logan had quite the time together over break."

Veronica gaped at Mac and whispered. "Who told you that?"

"Wow. Are you sick? You didn't even deny it or anything."

She surveyed the area. "Shh. Quiet."

"Exactly who do you think is going to overhear this? There are no other cars here."

"It's easiest to eavesdrop when there's no background chatter to drown out the people you're eavesdropping on."

"Of course you'd know that. I forgot you were Veronica Mars for a second there."

"Oh, Mac. Flattery will get you everywhere. But not away from my questions. How do you know, and who do I have to 'take care of'?"

"I'm not sure I should tell you…" Mac said uneasily.

"So, it's Cassidy."

"You didn't hear it from me."

"And, he probably heard it from Dick."

"My, uh, source didn't say, but that's probably your best bet."

Veronica groaned.

"You shouldn't blame Logan though. I don't think he would ever willingly tell him, and Dick is oddly intuitive about these things…"

"I've noticed…"

"Don't worry. I didn't tell anyone."

"Thanks. Can we get back to business now? Any more thinking and it won't be a crime of passion when I talk to Dick about this."

"Sure. Sorry it took so long, by the way. I would've had it done for you before Christmas, but some of us had to study for midterms."

"I needed to study, too," Veronica said defensively.

"Not according to all the nerds you piss off ever time the class rankings are posted."

"I do!"

"Uh-huh, just don't be surprised if you find a strongly worded email in your inbox next time. Anyway, I would've had it done before New Year's, too, but the parentals insisted on packing it up and going to Big Bear and depriving me of my electronics."

"It's fine, Q. I appreciate you doing this regardless."

"Sorry. I just didn't want this to reflect poorly on my hacking skills." Mac tucked a lock of cobalt blue behind her ear, pulled out two folders from her bag, and hugged them her chest. "I really didn't want to delay getting it to you any later than it's already been, and looking through each hospital to see if she was in their databases would have taken forever considering the number of hospitals in Los Angeles alone. So, I just hacked into the Neptune Memorial Hospital database instead. I figured that Lilly's been here long enough to have all her hospital records transferred."

"And?"

"And, I got it on my first try." She tapped the folders.

Veronica held out her hand slowly. "Great. Can I have it now?"

She looked down. "Yes and no."

"Yes and no?"

"Yes, you can. But, not right now."

She hardened her gaze at Mac. "Why not?"

Mac took a deep breath to ready herself and looked straight into Veronica's eyes. "When I got into the records, I found Lilly's birth records pretty easily. But then curiosity got the better of me… and I… I…"

"You read her file? Was it something bad?"

"No. No…" she replied. Rambling, she continued, "I wish that were it, though. See. My family doesn't exactly fit me. Or, I don't really fit in with my family. If you met us, you'd think I was adopted. At least I did."

Veronica's eyes softened, and she looked at Mac with concern. "Mac… what did you do?"

"I pulled up my own birth records."

"You're adopted," she said with finality.

"That's the thing. I think I was. But, my birth records list my adopted parents as my birth parents."

"What do you mean?"

Mac started speaking more quickly. "When I looked at my file, I immediately noticed two things. My birth records and my adoption papers. My birth certificate said that the parents I have right now signed as my birth parents. But then four years later, the adoption papers were signed, and they signed those, too. It doesn't make sense, right?"

Veronica agreed with a nod, gingerly rubbing Mac's back. "Do you know what happened?"

"That's what I need from you, Veronica." She turned to face her. "I'll give you Lilly's files if you figure out what's going on and who my parents are."

"Why don't you just ask them what happened?"

"You're a lot more gullible than I remember. You know they'd just lie."

"Gotcha. I'm on it, Mac." She hesitated before adding, "I would've done this even without Lilly's file…"

She was such a marshmallow. Damn Wallace for being right.

Mac got off her hood. "I didn't want to be presumptuous."

"You could never, Q. Not after all the favors I ask from you," she winked.

Mac finally smiled. "Well, it's about time I collected, right?"

Veronica grinned at being able to coax a smile from her. "I'll get to work on this as soon as I can."

.

She was sitting outside the Neptune Grande when she got a call from Wallace.

"You rang?"

"You know, I'm not quite feelin' the love these days."

"I told you the Nelly lifestyle of bitches and hoes would just leave you feeling empty."

"Girl, I'm flyin' way higher than Nelly these days."

"What? Did Georgia finally call you by the right name?"

"She knew my name… eventually. But this is even better than that. I stayed behind to help her finish alphabetizing some files after school today. And it took hours."

"That's a good thing?"

"Yeah, girl. I got to talk to her more today than I did the past couple of months. I'm moving on up."

"Hold it, George Jefferson. Do I need to vet her?"

"No way. You vet her, and I'll never get to see her again."

"Why would you say that? I'm very nice."

"Not everyone would agree to that."

"I do know how to retract my claws."

"That's what I heard," he said slyly.

Catching his tone, she asked, "Cassidy?"

"Dick."

She sucked in air. "That…"

"Dick?"

"Please, that joke is so old. But yes, that too."

"So, do _I_ need to vet Logan before I let him take you out?"

Technically, Logan already took her out on multiple occasions, but he didn't need to know that. Unless, either Mac or Meg had already told him, which could be very possible with all the talking her friends do behind her back. "That's not necessary."

"Uh-huh."

"What exactly did Dick tell you guys?"

"You and Logan spent New Year's swapping spit."

"Eww. What are we, seventh graders?"

"Those were Dick's words. So my point was, why do I have to hear about this from Dick and not my best friend?"

With that, Veronica's heart grew three times its size… because her heart was pounding from the anxiety she felt from hearing those words. The associations she had with a 'best friend' were not pleasant. "I'm your best friend?"

Mistaking the hitch in her voice for sentimentality, Wallace replied, "Yeah, but don't go all Marshmallow on me now, Mars. I want the juicy details."

Regaining her composure, Veronica teased, "Wallace Fennel, have you been watching your mother's soap operas again?"

"Not willingly," he denied. "I'll keep asking until you tell me, Veronica."

"I could hang up."

"And I guess I could collect on one of those favors you owe me."

"Damn it. Is everyone collecting today?"

"Who else cashed in a favor from you and what'd they want?" He asked curiously.

"Unrelated… And pretty confidential. Trust me."

"Fine. We can talk about something else like you and Logan."

"You've got a one-track mind, Wallace." Thinking back to New Year's, she drummed the tips of her fingers against her ever present camera, coincidentally the one Logan gave her on her birthday.

.

_It was a few more minutes until midnight, and she was sleepy from the extended stakeouts she had following his father. She would comment on exactly how wrong that was, but she didn't think Logan would find it as disturbingly funny as she did._

"_Are you going to tell me about the tradition soon?"_

"_Did I say I was going to tell you?"_

"_Yes?" She yawned._

"_I'm pretty sure I said I'd show you."_

"_Is there a difference?"_

_Mysteriously, he intoned, "Yes."_

"_Why can't you show me now then?"_

"_I'd love to, trust me, but we might end up distracted and miss midnight."_

"_Alright, you've got me all interested now."_

"_Patience, my pet. There's barely a minute left."_

"_Your pet? No."_

"_Sorry, patience… bobcat?"_

"_That's kinda better."_

"_Don't act like you don't like it."_

"_Like a heart attack." Suddenly, she straightened up, almost hitting his chin with her head. "Ooh! Shhh. It's almost midnight!"_

_He watched her watch the TV personalities provide commentary over the countdown._

"_What are they talking about? What kiss? Is that—"_

_She ended up swallowing the rest of her question as Logan tilted her face up to his to kiss firmly before letting go._

"_Yes," he answered her unfinished question._

"_Oh."_

"_Oh?"_

"_Yeah…"_

"_Is that a good 'oh'?"_

_Uncharacteristically honest, she answered, "I think… a very good 'oh'."_

_Upon hearing her answer, he didn't hesitate to tip her mouth open and kiss her until she surrendered. Veronica was forced to hold onto him in a futile attempt to stop herself from being swept away by the passion of the kiss. She gripped the back of his shirt, wrinkling it in her hands. Though, she wasn't sure he even noticed since his own hands were wrapped very firmly around her waist, in an attempt to get her impossibly closer. _

_Throwing her emotions, good and bad, into the kiss, she hadn't even noticed when his hand had slid under her shirt and up her stomach to her breast and cupped it. However, she had very much noticed when he began kneading and massaging it._

_He rubbed and applied pressure to her sensitive nipple, and she moaned into his mouth. _

_This was a tradition she could get used to, she thought mindlessly, before he abruptly broke the kiss, holding her at arm's length as if he had been shocked by her. It didn't take long for her insecurities to come rushing back in full force, and she wondered if she had done something wrong… or if he found something wrong with her, but he seemed to sense her worry and brought her back close to him and held her until he left, occasionally brushing his lips to the top of her head._

_For the sake of enjoying the moment, Veronica chose to ignore his odd change in behavior and settle back into his embrace._

.

"Logan and I kissed… and I liked it. I really liked it." Though, the makeout session did escalate a lot more quickly than she would have thought she'd be comfortable with.

"Stop right there. I don't need to know that. That's not what I meant. I wanted to know what you two are doing."

"We went on a few dates, I think."

"You think?"

"I wanted to call it just hanging out, but he said if there's hand holding involved, it's a date."

"That boy's a walking dictionary, isn't he?"

"One of his many charms, I'm sure." Veronica then spotted Aaron and Lilly walking out of the Neptune Grande together. They were usually careless enough to do so, but today they were even more reckless. Aaron and Lilly both stepped into the Echolls town car. "Hey Wallace? Call you back."

"Wait! We weren't done talking," he argued, but his words fell on deaf ears because she'd already hung up on him in favor of using both hands to steady her camera and snap a few pictures.

As they drove away, Veronica followed them, two cars back and one lane to the left.

Interestingly enough, Aaron simply just dropped Lilly off a few houses down from her actual home. He had never done that before. Usually, they had left in separate cars.

What were they up to?

.

Veronica sat at her desk after returning from tailing Aaron and Lilly, hunched over her laptop.

She added a scan of Lilly's birth certificate to her folder for Lilly out of posterity. Celeste was listed as her mother and Jake was listed as her father. The birth certificate revealed nothing irregular, but that in itself was weird. Why and who would want to have her birth records sealed if nothing was amiss? She suspected that Jake Kane had the records sealed, and Celeste wasn't Lilly's real mother. He certainly had the money now and Lilly not being Celeste's biological daughter would certainly explain the animosity between the two of them. She'd have to ask Mac to pull up Jake and Celeste's records later. Though, that hypothesis brought up more questions. Why would it matter if Celeste wasn't Lilly's mother.

She added scans of the rest of Lilly's hospital records to her laptop file, too; Mac was thoughtful enough to include them. Though, nothing was out of the ordinary there either. Blood type A. Sprained ankle. Checkups. Physicals. Nothing that would provide any dirt on Lilly.

Putting away Lilly's folder, Veronica pulled up the new folder she created on Mac.

There was one thing of note under either of her parents' background check, a one million dollar external income amount awarded to them in a lawsuit from the Neptune Memorial Hospital. Definitely a red flag. She had already planned to go to the library to check out the newspaper archives the library kept on microfiche to see if there was a story about the lawsuit.

Neptune certainly wasn't lacking in millionaires or lawsuits; however, a million dollars over a decade ago was still quite a lot of money. Someone had to have reported on the lawsuit.

Shrugging on her jacket, Veronica drove to the library.

First days back were always eventful.

.

The group watched as a string quartet played in the background. A group of 09ers gathered around Madison Sinclair cutting into her designer birthday cake.

Wallace eyed her enviously. "Her parents must _love_ her."

Mac tentatively said, "It beats my parents taking me out camping for the thousandth time for _my_ birthday."

Veronica sighed and put down her sandwich. She had been putting it off for a day or two, but delaying it wouldn't make it any less true. "Uh, Mac, bathroom?"

"Want me to come, too?" Carmen volunteered.

"Yeah, but I'd hate to prove those '90s standup comedians right."

"Taking Mac along isn't proving them right?"

"Two people don't make a group."

"Okay, but we do need to talk soon, V," she winked.

Veronica made a noncommittal noise and stood up from the table, gesturing for Mac to follow her.

When she was out of sight, Logan turned to Carmen. "You know."

"Yeah. Was it supposed to be a secret?"

"Yes…" He hit the back of Dick's head. "You told."

Dick winced. "I couldn't help it. I was excited for you!"

He whispered, "You ass. Who else knows?"

"Everyone at this table?" He smiled sheepishly at him.

"And Mac," Carmen reminded.

"Look, Veronica can't know that you guys know."

"Whoops. Sorry, man."

"Wallace…"

"She knows."

"Dude."

"Sorry. Mac said she talked to Veronica about it, so I thought it was okay. What's the big deal anyway? So she knows we know. She didn't sound bothered by it."

"Really?... Interesting."

Wallace shook his head at Logan, "My man, for real? You are whipped."

"That's my boy. He's growing up!" Dick laughed and clapped Logan on the back. "Yeah!"

Logan hit the back of Dick's head again. "Shut up, Dick. You're not off the hook yet."

.

"What'd you find?"

"Mac. This is big, like, life-altering big, so you should really think about if you want to hear it or if you'd rather just forget it and go on with your life. May I suggest option B?"

"I want to know what you found out, Veronica. I always thought I was adopted, so it's okay..."

Biting the bullet, she said, "When you were born, the hospital sent you home with the wrong family."

"What does that mean for me?"

"The Mackenzies aren't your real parents. You were right. You were adopted. There's more…"

Mac turned over the thought in her head. She always suspected but having her suspicions confirmed was an entirely different situation. Absentmindedly, she asked, "More than that?"

"There was a lawsuit against the hospital, and the hospital ended up settling. Your family got one million dollars."

Crossing her arms, she said, "That can't be right. My parents aren't rich."

"Well, you know Funtime Motors?"

She nodded slowly, trying to figure out what Veronica was getting at. "My dad works there…"

"Your family actually used to own it until your dad filed for bankruptcy in 1994. Then it was bought out in early '95."

And, that would explain why her father _really_ hated his job. "Okay…"

"I'm not done yet…"

"Of course you aren't."

"Another family was awarded a million dollars at the same time."

Eagerly, Mac said, "And those people are my parents… Who are they?"

Veronica hesitated, assessing how Mac was doing, before speaking again. "Hold on. Um, another baby girl, born a day after you were, or I guess if you two were switched, a day before you—"

"I was switched with another girl?!"

Hey eyes darted back and forth. "Shit, yeah. I didn't want to say it like that."

Mac's throat felt raw. "Who is it?"

"She was born a day after 'you'…"

"Another girl…" Her eyes widened further and her jaw dropped. She shouted in realization, "I was switched at birth with Madison Sinclair?"

Reflexively, she asked, "Are you okay?"

Mac breathlessly responded and laughed disbelievingly, "Okay? Yeah, I think so? I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, so yeah. Sure. I'm okay."

"Great," Veronica chuckled nervously along with her. "So you wouldn't mind doing me another favor and getting me Jake and Celeste Kane's files?"

"You are amazing, Bond."

She bit her lip in regret. "Sorry. I—"

Mac stopped her. "I didn't say I wouldn't. It'll help me feel like everything's still normal."

Veronica nodded and left Mac in the bathroom to contemplate her newly found paternity.

.

Veronica didn't see Mac in class for the rest of the day. However, the next day, Mac sought her out.

She clutched two separate folders to her chest. "I've got the files you wanted."

She observed Mac's body language. "I'm not going to get those files until I agree to whatever you're going to ask next, huh?"

Mac nodded silently and looked down.

"What'd you want?"

She took a folded pink slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to Veronica.

"A birthday party invitation?" She gave her a puzzled look. "I… You didn't have to do this to get me to go to your birthday party."

Mac flushed. "Thanks. But it's not mine. Read it."

Veronica read the invitation more closely and blanched. "You want me to crash Madison Sinclair's birthday party?"

"Not alone. I'll be with you."

"That doesn't really make it any better."

"Please, Veronica. I want to see what my life was supposed to be like."

"Are you sure? Look how Madison turned out. No offense to your biological parents, but I think you got the better end of the deal," she said bluntly.

Mac replied in a small voice, "She wasn't always like this."

"Yeah, I remember. But, people change." Just look at me, Veronica thought. They wouldn't even be having this conversation if Veronica hadn't changed. More likely than not, if Lilly hadn't turned out to be a deplorable excuse for a human being, she and Lilly would still be friends. Or, even still more likely, Veronica would still be friends with Carmen and in the soccer clique. Either way, Veronica and Mac's paths would likely have never converged as they did now.

Looking at her, Mac smiled wryly. "I know." Chuckling slightly, Mac fondly recalled, "But, remember the time when Madison got John Enbom in trouble for writing swear words on the walls because he kept trying to flip up all the girls' skirts?"

"Yeah…"

Leaving no room for argument, Mac handed Veronica the files and firmly stated, "I want to see, Veronica."

.

It was a little insulting how something so significant could be summed up with three letters. B. B. and A. There were a few scenarios that could have led to that outcome.

One, Lilly was adopted.

Two, Lilly was Jake's daughter but not Celeste's.

Three, Lilly was Celeste's daughter but not Jake's.

Veronica could only hope it was option three, remembering the way Celeste treated her.

Regardless of which it was, the more important dilemma she was facing was what to do with the information and how to proceed. This information was going to affect a lot more people than Lilly.

.

Though still very much part of the 09er group, Meg occasionally dropped by Veronica's table with Duncan at lunch.

Oblivious to the awkward tension between Duncan and the rest of the table, Meg happily attempted to include Duncan in the group conversations and activities. To his credit, Duncan did try to be friendly towards them by making small talk. However, the stiffness in their conversations or interactions did not fade.

Seeing that Duncan was not going to just go away on his own and fed up with the forced niceties, Veronica snapped one day and took Meg aside to set her straight. She told Meg that Duncan was a bad guy and listed all the things that Duncan had done that a 'nice guy' wouldn't do.

In denial, or perhaps truly unable to believe, Meg defended Duncan, saying that Duncan was gentle and couldn't possibly have done what she said he did all on his own. She blamed his bad behavior on his sister influencing and forcing him. Solemnly, she said, "You can't choose family. I won't hold it against him."

.

Veronica pulled up in her car with Mac and Wallace. Logan, Cassidy, and Dick were right behind them in Dick's truck.

Veronica hadn't wanted the boys to come, but Logan made a very good argument about having backup. Though, Veronica wasn't sure about how much backup three privileged white boys would provide. She didn't count Wallace as a boy since he insisted on riding in the 'girl' car with her and Mac to avoid any accidental injuries caused by Logan in retaliation for something Veronica wasn't privy to knowing.

Then again, how much trouble could she get into at a privileged white girl's seventeenth birthday party? The answer to that was the same as the answer to how much trouble she could get into at an end of the year party.

After coming to terms that she really was going to go to her first 09er party since Shelly's party, Veronica thought positively about why she would was going and who she was going for. Mac was certainly going whether or not Veronica went with her. At least this way, Veronica would be able to watch over her to make sure that what happened to Veronica the last time she crashed an 09er party wouldn't happen to Mac.

Wallace stared in awe at the opulence of the Sinclair Residence.

Noticing his open stare, Veronica smirked, "Please, Wallace. That's _so_ bourgeois of you."

"If I'm bourgeois, what are they?"

"By pre-French Revolution standards? The aristocrats," she said, as if it were obvious.

"And we're the nerds?"

Veronica knocked on the door.

Madison opened the door and cheerfully greeted, "Hey! Welcome to _my_ birthday party!" until she realized who was standing in front of her. "I did _not_ invite you."

Quickly, Veronica took the reins. "Hey, happy birthday!"

She didn't budge. "What are you doing here?"

"Umm, we were invited."

Veronica pushed her way through the door and motioned for Mac and Wallace to do the same.

About to throw a tantrum, Madison replied, "Umm, no you weren't. I certainly wouldn't have invited someone like you and especially not them."

"No, not you. Of course not you, it was Seth Russell."

"Seth? I don't know a Seth."

"From history."

"And I definitely don't remember anyone named Seth from history."

"Really? Maybe it was Adam then."

Veronica put her hands behind her and gestured for them to get lost in the crowd while she distracted Madison. She had previously ordered Wallace to never let Mac out of her sight, especially not until Veronica was there to watch over her.

"Look, I don't care who invited you. You're not getting into my party, so leave. And call your loser friends and take them with you, too."

Hearing their cue, Logan, Cassidy and Dick walked up to the door.

Dick knocked on the doorframe, and Madison turned to see who was at the door, giving Veronica enough time to slip away.

"Maddie, babe. Happy birthday."

"Dick? Logan... Beaver? What are you guys doing here? I didn't invite you."

Madison may have sounded bitchy at the moment, but she was secretly pleased that Dick had crashed her party. Dick showing up on her doorstep usually meant he wanted to get back together with her. She loved it when Dick came back to her. It usually meant he'd shower her with love, gifts, and attention to get her back.

"Those two? I came to celebrate your birth, but those two just wanted to hook up. Ignore 'em. We should talk, babe. It's been a while." Dick threw an arm around her and led her away while leaving Logan and Cassidy to search for the rest of their group.

.

Veronica and Wallace followed Mac in silence as she made her way through the many rooms of the upper floors of the Sinclairs' house. When they got to the family room filled with pictures from vacations and various family events, Mac darted from the room and down the stairs before they could stop her. She became lost to them in the sea of bodies. Curse her for being short.

While Veronica was sympathetic to the overwhelming feelings Mac had to have been experiencing, she just couldn't risk Mac being alone at the party, so she reluctantly split up with Wallace in search for her.

.

Madison was playing a game of cat and mouse with Dick, and she just loved the chase. Ducking into her father's study, she was startled to see someone else occupying his seat.

Mac was looking at yet another family picture and was startled by the presence of an intruder as well.

"What are you doing here?" She blurted.

"This is my party and my house. What are _you_ doing here?" Remembering her infuriating conversation with Veronica, she said, "No forget it. Leave."

Acting more boldly than she felt, Mac candidly asked, "Madison, why are you such a bitch?" In hindsight, her candor may have been due to the cups of alcohol she imbibed to calm her nerves before finding the study.

Madison narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

Voicing her inner thoughts, Mac said, "You used to be nice."

Shocked into silence, she just huffed.

And Mac continued. "You really were. Remember when we were younger?"

"Get out. I'm not in the mood for a trip down memory lane right now. Not with you anyway. And just for your information, I will never be in the mood for that," she said impatiently.

"You used to be my friend."

Without missing a beat, she retorted, "And, then I got better friends."

"I used to go to your house after school... this house."

She sneered. "I was feeling charitable. You should at least get to know what a real house looks like at least once in your pathetic life."

Flinching but still determined, Mac said, "You protected me from the other mean kids."

Scoffing, she replied with a roll of her eyes, "Once again, out of pity."

"Remember when we made that scrap book using pictures from our sleepovers?"

Madison folded her arms across her chest. "Stop it."

Mac leaned forward in the leather chair and placed her hands flat on the wooden desk. "Remember when we went had that sleepover in your backyard? We set up a tent right next to your koi pond. You were trying to make me feel better about camping with my parents later that summer. You were trying to make me think it was fun."

Her nails dug into her arms, leaving marks. She was bringing up memories that she'd rather forget. While _those_ episodic memories were pleasant and rose colored, what they led up to were less than pleasant memories. Ones that still hurt, no matter what she said. "Stop."

"You used to like me, Madison. What happened?!"

"I grew up!"

Voice hoarse, Mac pressed on, "Then why did I find a picture of you and me in the top drawer of your desk in your bedroom?"

She froze; face reddening to the point of madness. "You went into my room and looked through my things? You freak!"

Tears fell from her eyes. "It was the one we took just before you started hating me. The day we went to beach for the last time."

She threw her arms up in frustration and tangled her fingers into her hair. "Just shut up and get out!"

"Tell me, Madison. Tell me!

Madison reached past her boiling point. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut_ up_! Get out of my house. Get out of my life!"

"This should have been _my_ life! You don't appreciate it at all."

She blinked. So she knew. It was about time. "And, you don't appreciate _anything_." In a cold voice that ice would envy, Madison commanded, "You should stop now, _Cindy_... before you make an even bigger fool out of yourself."

Hysterical now and spiteful, Mac revealed in a scratchy voice raw from emotion, "We were switched at birth. This should have been mine. It _could_ have been mine."

Madison stepped towards the desk, vindictively. Speaking carefully, she said, "Am I supposed to be shocked now? Cry, maybe?" She reached the desk and leaned forward, matching Mac's stance, a mere few inches between them. "Is that what you wanted? Huh? To make me cry? Well that's too fucking bad. I stopped crying over this years ago."

"You knew?!"

"For years. And they think you're the smart one. Why do you think I hate you so much, Cindy?"

Sadness made way for anger, and Mac shouted, "You hate me for something I had no control over? I'm not the one who switched us at the hospital."

She crossed her arms over her chest again defensively. "No. But you're the one they chose. All of them. My parents and yours; they chose _you_. Do you even know how lucky you are?"

"Are you crazy? You get to travel everywhere. You go on vacations to all these museums and historical sites. You have everything you ever wanted because you're you. Just this week, your parents sent you a string quartet and a huge cake _at school _for your birthday. They let you throw this huge party. And you don't think you're lucky?"

Madison sniffled slightly and clenched her jaw. "God, you're stupid."

"Why don't you tell me what I'm missing then?"

"Fuck. This is not some after school special."

"What are you talking about?"

Screw it. "Love, you stupid bitch," she spat. "Do you think having all those things means that they love me?" She hated how vulnerable she sounded.

Mac recoiled back into the chair. The venom in her words left her feeling weak. Mac had never once questioned that her parents loved her, but now she knew that Madison did.

"That's what I thought."

The two shared an intense look overflowing with years of unresolved issues before Madison turned around and headed towards the door.

With her hand on the door knob, she said, "Stay here or leave. I don't care. Just keep the fuck out of my way." Pausing for a moment, she mockingly added. "And happy fucking birthday to us."

.

Veronica had no luck on the west side of the house and could only hope that Wallace found her on the east side. She checked her phone, Mac hadn't replied to her calls or texts either. Damn it. This could be really bad.

Lost in her worry, she didn't notice Lilly coming up behind her.

Lilly tapped her shoulder to get her attention. When she turned around, Lilly threw the contents of her cup in her face.

Laughing and pointing at her, Lilly said, "Oh, look, guys. Veronica's getting ready to make out with everyone again."

The sycophants around her laughed, and Veronica fumed.

Ignoring the prickling sensation behind her eyes that weren't entirely from the sting of alcohol, Veronica testily said, "You know? Our teachers were right about you. You just don't learn."

Veronica grabbed drinks from the bystanders who laughed at her and threw them both at Lilly.

Indignant and dripping alcohol, Lilly attempted to wring out her hair and wipe the alcohol from her face. In a low and dangerous tone, she whispered, "Judging by the way your mother acts, I thought you'd learn not to waste alcohol."

"Judging by the way _your _mother acts, I guess it'd only make sense that you were a bitch, too."

Lilly rolled her eyes in irritation. "Whatever, loser. I don't need to hear that from the town bicycle."

"You're the one who started those rumors!"

Lilly smiled indulgently. "Who knows if they're rumors? If someone ever actually tries fucking you, their dick might really fall off. Someone had to warn the public."

The prickling sensation returned again, and Veronica breathed deeply to calm herself.

"But that's a pretty big if," she added in delight.

Veronica was about two seconds away from launching herself at Lilly when Dick picked her up and brought her back to Logan and Cassidy. She watched Lilly flip her hair and sneer at her before walking away.

"Damn it, Dick. First, I told you to stop touching me unnecessarily. Second, stop stopping me from hitting her. It's a cruel and unusual punishment, especially when the chance presents itself so nicely."

Logan was the first to acknowledge her current _sopping_ state. "What happened with you?"

"Lilly Kane."

As if that were all the explanation they needed, the boys nodded.

"Have you guys seen Mac? We lost her, and I'm worried."

Concerned, Cassidy perked up, "Mac's lost?"

"Yeah. Wallace and I were keeping an eye on her before, but she gave us the slip about half an hour ago. The last time we saw her, she was headed down here."

"We can go look for her, too," Cassidy offered.

Dick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Veronica. Can't have you dripping all over the place. You and Logan can just go home. I'll take everyone else home later."

Relieved and grateful, Veronica said, "Thanks, Cassidy. Thanks, Dick. Tell them I was sorry and had to go. And thanks for pretending you wanted to get back with Madison. That must have sucked."

"No problem. Later."

There was no need to correct her and tell her that a part of him wasn't pretending.

.

Outside, Logan and Veronica walked down the walkway towards where she parked her car.

"Want my jacket?"

"Sure, I'll add it to my collection."

He unzipped his jacket and handed to her.

"Logan! Veronica! Hey, we didn't know you were invited."

Meg rushed over to them, dragging a sullen looking Duncan behind her.

She zipped up Logan's jacket before responding. "Hey, Meg. We were just leaving, actually."

Logan and Duncan avoided eye contact, choosing to look anywhere else but the other boy.

"But it's barely ten."

"Logan's bedtime was at nine."

"Hey!"

Surprisingly, Duncan started to say something unrelated to the weather. "So, you and Logan are really together?"

Feeling the looming awkwardness that was threatening to overtake their conversation, Veronica reached for Logan's hand and hurriedly said, "Yeah. We'll see you guys at school. Bye."

Not looking back at the other pair, she found her car and said to Logan, "Hey, can you drive?"

"I can," he grinned, tightening his hold on her hand. "So we're together?"

"What?"

"You told Duncan we were together. I feel kinda cheap though. I don't remember you ever sweeping me off my feet to make it official."

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Would you pretty please just drive?"

"It would be my pleasure… sugarpuss," he teased, catching the keys she tossed at his head.

Logan watched silently as she got into the backseat. Used to her doing things her own way, he didn't question her and started the car. Beginning to feel cramped in her convertible, he adjusted the seat to his height.

Fixing the mirror, he happened to catch a glimpse of her. Swerving sharply on the road, he exclaimed, "Jesus. What the fuck?"

Thrown slightly off kilter in the backseat, she queried, "What? What is it?"

He righted the car before asking, "What are you doing back there?"

She put her arms through the sleeves of the jacket and zipped it up completely. "What? You didn't expect me to keep my shirt on the entire drive home."

"Yeah, I kinda did."

"It was covered in beer and whatever the hell else she was drinking. I was getting sticky and disgusting."

Gripping his steering wheel, Logan said, "It would've only been for ten minutes."

"Try thirty. And even _five_ minutes would've been too long." She was suffocating in the cloud of alcohol that enveloped her. It reminded her of her mother on her worse days.

"Don't you think that's probably not the best idea when you're with a guy?"

Veronica realized with a start that he was right. She hadn't even given a second thought to what she was doing because it was _Logan_. She worried her lip. Still, she argued, "I was wearing your jacket the entire time. No one would've seen anything."

He kept his eyes trained onto the road, and the rest of the ride was silent.

When she got out of her car, Logan spoke softly, "Sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you. You just gotta be more careful, you know? Trouble follows you, Veronica Mars."

"I know. Thanks. About my car... Pick me up tomorrow, and I'll drive you home after school?"

"Sounds good. Night, sugarpuss."

"Night."

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down to him, kissing her goodnight.

"Right… I'll see you tomorrow."

"It's a date," he declared.

.

Cassidy and Dick split up to find Mac. They called Wallace to update him on the situation, and he told them he had no luck on the east side of the house. Having been in and subsequently gotten lost in the Sinclair residence many times, Dick had a decent idea of the layout of the house and offered to cover the upper floors while the other two combed over the first floor again.

He found her in the second floor library.

She was huddled in a corner with her face in her arms behind a bust of Mr. Sinclair. Had he not heard and followed the sounds of sniffling, he never would have noticed her.

"Go away," she said imperviously

Dick nervously approached her anyway. "Sorry, no can do. I gotta get you home."

There were plastic cups on the ground next to her, empty. He suspected they weren't filled with anything wholesome when they were full.

"Just leave me alone!"

He was sorely tempted to do as she said and leave, but he knew enough about girls to know that, more likely than not, girls always meant the opposite of what they said when they were angry. So, he stayed. Crouching down to her level, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Feeling his close proximity, she lifted her head and glared at him as if he committed a great crime against her person by asking that question.

He thought back on his experience with comforting girls. Somehow he didn't think something shiny would distract or appease her. So, thinking back to the chick flicks that Madison and Veronica used to drag him to, at separate times of course, he sat down next to her and put his arm around her. It seemed to be the right thing to do because she stopped crying for a moment and leaned into him.

Dick let out a sigh of relief. She felt warm and soft in his arms, if a little moist, but he could let that slide. From his vantage point above her head, he noticed that her hair held a bright blue color; similar to the colors she chose when they were younger. Though, her hair wasn't completely dyed like before.

After waiting to make sure that she wouldn't break out in tears again, Dick prodded her gently and asked, "You ready to go home now?"

She lifted her head again to nod at him. Her nose was puffy and pink, and no matter how hard he tried to convince her that it was cute, he didn't think she'd take it as a compliment.

"Let me just call the others and tell them I found you."

She nodded again.

That was better than nothing, he supposed. She burrowed her face into his neck, seeking comfort, as he called the other two to round them up.

When the four met up outside, he watched his little brother fuss over Mac and hold her in the back seat of his truck similar to how he held her minutes ago, feeling an odd sense of loss.

.

Over the past week or so, Mac had been trying to talk to Madison about how to proceed, but she was finding out just how elusive Madison Sinclair could be when she wanted to stay out of the spotlight.

Though, there was no need to bring out the big guns and involve Veronica yet. Mac would just have to just go out of her comfort zone for this mission. She went into the school's servers and found Madison's schedule. She then asked Wallace to call Madison out to the office during Mac's computer class period. Just in time, Wallace texted her, telling her that he had just sent the note to Madison, and she should be heading to the front office now.

Mac spotted Madison down a hall and intercepted her, pulling her into the girl's bathroom.

Seeing who her attacker was, Madison angrily shouted, "What the hell is going on?"

Mac pushed the stopper under the door and leaned against it, blocking the only escape route. "We need to talk."

"Says you," she said defiantly.

"You're not going anywhere until we talk."

They were at a standstill until Madison relented and waved her hand in Mac's direction. "Fine. Talk."

"I want to get everything out in the open."

Madison laughed mirthlessly. "I don't think it gets any more open than this."

"We can tell our parents we know."

Madison's eyes flashed with anger. "Are you crazy?"

"Why? What's wrong with letting them know we know? Don't you think it's time?"

She kept her mouth shut.

"We can find out why they did it, and why they kept it from us." Cautiously, Mac asked, "Don't you want proof that your parents love you?"

"And which parents would that be?"

"Yours? Mine? All of them?"

"Why aren't _you_ mad at them?"

She shrugged and answered with confidence she didn't have. "Because I know they all loved us. Why else would they keep us and keep this secret from us?" She continued when Madison remained silent, "They were trying to protect us, Madison. They do love us. But... I want to hear it from them. I need to."

"You're a bitch."

"Don't you want to know?"

"Fuck you."

"Madison, we can't just pretend that we don't know. This isn't some game. This is our lives."

She tilted her chin up in defiance at her.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. I'll have my people call your people with the plan."

"Why do we have to tell them…?"

Mac answered resolutely, "I told you. I need to know for sure. For closure."

"Whatever," she said softly.

She pushed Mac to the side and kicked the stopper out from under the door.

.

Through a flurry of back and forth emails between Mac and Madison, Mac finally persuaded Madison to go along with her plan by threatening to corner her in the bathroom again. However reluctant she was, the plan was put into motion.

As part of the plan, Madison had informed her parents that a college recruiter was coming to dinner. They were so overjoyed and floored that Madison was showing interest in college that they readily agreed and cleared their schedule.

On Mac's end, she had told her parents that she wanted them to meet her new friend and have dinner with her family at her house. Similarly surprised that Mac was being sociable and apparently coming out of her shell to make new friends, the Mackenzies happily agreed to dinner.

For the night of the dinner, Mac insisted on driving, arguing that her parents hadn't ever been to her house before. Keeping them distracted from the long car ride, Mac chattered about the imaginary things that Mac had done with her imaginary friend, unaware that she was recounting a few things she did with Madison.

When they arrived at the Sinclair residence, Mac guided her parents to the front door and knocked. Madison was supposed to have a maid open the door for them, just in case their parents would recognize each other… or their biological daughter and flee.

.

Sam and Natalie Mackenzie wasn't sure what to make of the obviously affluent neighborhood their daughter had brought them to but didn't say a word. Mac was a great judge of character, and they were sure that her new little friend would be a lovely person.

As they were led through the hall and into the dining room, they caught a few glimpses of the family that lived there.

There was something niggling the back of Natalie's mind. Something about the woman in the photos was familiar; though, she was sure she had no idea why.

Stopping before the dinner table and getting a look at the family in person alongside their daughter, it clicked.

.

Mac sat down on one side of the table and gestured for her parents to do the same. "Mom. Dad. I'm sure you know the Sinclairs."

The four parents exchanged startled glances.

Natalie was the first to react. "No, honey. But, I'm sure we'll get to know them well soon enough. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said firmly.

Catching on, Ellen Sinclair shook her hand politely. "The pleasure's all ours. Please, sit down." She turned to her daughter and questioningly said, "Madison, I thought we were meeting a college recruiter, not your… friend's?... family."

Mac eyed the adults in front of her. How long were they going to pretend?

Fortunately or not, Madison wasn't quite so willing to wait to find out that answer and brusquely said, "We know."

Michael Sinclair sighed. "How long?"

"A few weeks," Mac answered. "Apologies? Explanations?"

Madison knew Mac thought some magical resolution would come from the encounter, but she wasn't so optimistic. Bringing a secret out into the open after years in the dark was bound to bring about trouble.

Sam spoke for himself and his wife, "We stand by our decision. We will not apologize for keeping you, Cindy. But we would like a chance to explain."

Ellen agreed, "Yes. At the time, we thought it was best to keep the arrangements and we still do."

This was what she was waiting for. "So, explain."

Madison watched detachedly as Mac got her closure, for whatever reason, she didn't need to know. What did that kind of closure bring to anyone?

"We never wanted to hurt either of you," Ellen said.

Michael stood behind his wife and put his hands on her shoulders to comfort her. "Obviously, when we found out, we didn't know what to think. All we knew was that we couldn't just give you back to your other family."

"We just couldn't," his wife repeated.

Holding her husband's hand, Natalie added to assure her own daughter, "We felt the same way, Cindy. We couldn't give you up. Not after taking care of you and watching you grow up. Seeing your first steps, your first words, your first everything." She was near tears at this point and couldn't go on.

Mac felt a twinge of guilt at her mother's display of emotion but forced it down. Guilt would have to take a backseat to honesty for the sake hearing what she craved. She could already feel lighter now that the truth was in the open.

Michael continued, "When we talked to the Mackenzies and they told us they didn't want to give up Cindy, we just agreed to keep quiet. To get past it all as quickly as possible, we settled with the hospital. And that… was that. That's everything."

Madison became more interested in the conversation now and broke the silence. "That's not everything," she insisted. "You wanted to tell us when we were twelve."

Her father exclaimed, "You've known for five years?"

Ellen paled. "You overheard our arguments. That's how you found out."

"Yes, _mother_. That's how I found out. Explain that."

"Oh, Madison," she started. "You must have heard our reasons then. You girls were getting so close. It was only a matter of time before you started wondering why you looked so different from us and so much like your friend's parents. We wanted to tell you before you found out on your own and you resented us for keeping it a secret."

"Like now?"

She stammered, hurt, "Yes. Like now, I suppose."

Natalie was curious. "You never told us you wanted to tell the girls."

Michael admitted, "We occasionally thought about it. But, we only thought about it more seriously when the girls got closer."

"Why didn't you then?"

"There was never a need to. When the girls… stopped getting close, and Cindy stopped coming over, we dropped it… and Madison…"

"You can say it," Madison offered simply. "I was getting more 'difficult'. I was a bitch. At least now you know why."

"That was why? You were acting out because you found out you were adopted?"

She raised her voice in response. "I was acting out because you liked her more than me."

"What are you talking about?"

Madison stood up from her chair and pointed accusingly at her parents. "Don't lie to me. You finally got to see how perfect your real daughter was and wanted to tell us so you wouldn't feel bad when you returned me for her."

The table was stunned into silenced.

Ellen stood from her chair. Turning to face Madison, she slapped her.

Madison remained standing, a hand pressed to the side of her face

As if she was the one who was hit, Ellen sobbed uncontrollably. "We were thinking of _you_, baby. We _love_ you. With all our hearts. How could you even think that? Is that what you've always thought? God, Michael…"

Michael forced his wife back into her seat and diplomatically said, "It would be best if you all left now. However, perhaps the girls were right about getting everything in the open and clearing the air. I think my family would like it if yours came by on Sunday, and we can try to talk again."

Natalie and Sam left, delicately avoiding looking at Madison and Ellen; however, Mac gathered enough courage to hug Madison. There was no way she could possibly know exactly how Madison felt, but as the only other person who could possibly start to, she felt that she had to do something.

Looking her in the eye, Mac whispered, "See? They do love us."

Madison returned her words of comfort with a glare.

.

As soon as the Mackenzies were out of sight, Ellen spoke once more, "Madison…"

She shook her head, "I don't want to hear it."

"Baby…" she said, concerned.

"Don't." Madison fled to her room.

.

It wasn't a second after she hit the bed that her door opened forcefully. It was her father.

"Madison."

"Michael," she mocked flippantly.

"Madison Sinclair—"

"Are you sure you've got the right girl?"

Gritting his teeth, he said, "Young lady, you will not disrespect me."

Madison curled up on her bed and faced away from him.

Sitting down on her bed, he spoke more gently. "Maddie… I think we need to talk."

"You do? Isn't it about thirteen years too late to change things?"

Frustrated, he sighed. "What do you want us to say, Madison?"

She asked suddenly, appearing vulnerable once again when she didn't want to. "Why wasn't I enough?"

"What…what are—"

"Why wasn't I enough for you and mom? If you wanted to keep everything a secret anyway, why did you have to bring her up?"

"We told you, Madison. We thought it was best—"

"Well, it wasn't!"

"We didn't realize you'd take it so badly."

There was a long silence, he was sure he heard her choke back a sob before she asked,"Do you think _they_ ever talked about me? Or wanted to meet me?"

"Honey, I don't, I don't know… You'd have to ask the Mackenzies about that."

She thought aloud, "I think I will."

After a pause, Michael said, "I love you, Madison. Your mother loves you. We love you, very much. We may have not been the best parents, but we did everything we could for you."

She didn't reciprocate his sentiments. "Can I sleep now?"

"Are you sure? We never quite got to dinner. You must be starving."

"I'm not hungry."

Hesitating, he got off the bed and said softly, "Alright then."

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, sweetheart."

"Can you give me a goodnight kiss like you used to?"

"Of course, sweetheart."

He stood from her bed and leaned over her, dropping a kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Night, daddy."

.

The next few dinners that the Sinclairs and Mackenzies shared went more smoothly than the first as Madison became less adamant against the idea of communication between the families.

Madison was still prickly about the situation but was more open to spending time with her biological parents, as well as Cindy—_Mac_; she was still getting used to calling the girl by her preferred nickname. She thrived on the attention she received from all four adults since the Mackenzies were very much interested to get to know their biological daughter and the Sinclairs were busy reassuring Madison of their love. She hated to admit it, but perhaps Mac was right about getting closure. Though, Madison's closure entailed far more than Mac's did. If she knew how well things would have turned out before, she would've gone to her parents years ago. Who knows how that would've changed things?

Mac, in turn, grew hesitant about venturing past the reveal. In fact, she hadn't thought much about the 'after'. She wanted her closure, and she got it. There was no nefarious plans of deception, only misguided love. That should have been it for her, and she should've been able to move on unaffected, tucking the newly found secret back in the closet.

However, not thinking about the aftermath was a major lack of foresight. While she hadn't really planned on getting to know her biological parents, her biological parents were eager to get to know her now that Madison was comfortable enough with the arrangement to allow them to do so, which put her in a tight spot. Now, it wasn't Madison that was getting in the way of their wholesome unorthodox familial closeness, it was her, and she didn't like that. She couldn't understand how her parents could easily get wrapped up in their newfound daughter, and if she didn't know any better, she'd suspect she was jealous of how everyone was meshing so well together. It was a damn good thing she knew better.

But, what was wrong with things going back to the way they were before?

.

"Madison, why weren't you at Shelly's party Saturday night?"

Madison was perceptive enough to realize that when Lilly asked questions in that saccharine pitch, there was always a trap hidden somewhere. If you weren't careful, you'd get your foot blown off… if you were lucky.

With hopefully the perfect mix of annoyance and half truths, she answered, "I was stuck having dinner with my parents and couldn't get out. You know how it is. If they're not trying to get you to do one thing, they're forcing you to do another. It was such a lame dinner with my parents' friends, I thought I'd die."

"Your parents are friends with that loser computer geek's parents? Aren't they _poor_?" Lilly spat out the last word like it'd leave a permanently bad taste in her mouth if she lingered on the syllable for too long.

Well, there went her fucking head. So much for glossing over this conversation, she thought. Madison forgot that there was always someone watching. There comes a time in every girl's life that she was going to have to stand up for herself and her semi-pseudo-family. But, that time was not now.

"Yeah… I don't understand why my mother and father insist on having them over."

Shelly suggested, "They've got to be your parent's charity case for this year. Right? Give them a few good meals before sending them on their way?"

Madison fought the spark of anger she felt. She actually liked the Mackenzies. They were nothing but nice to her, always trying to show their affection in some way or another. And, their hands on style parenting was a breath of fresh air, although, her own parents were catching on as well. Weakly, Madison tried to change topics. "Let it go, you guys. I don't want to have to relive that nightmare."

Lilly smiled wickedly and narrowed her eyes at Madison. "Come on, Maddie. Tell your real friends what it was like to dine with poor people. Did they even know how to use a fork? Did they remember to chew with their mouths closed?"

Pam laughed boisterously in delight and joined in. "Oh! That's so, right, Lilly! I bet it was like a scene from some horror movie or whatever. Gross."

Sean, that smarmy bastard whom she had heard from Chester wasn't even rich, said, "Hey, give them some credit. They're only filthy animals after all. We should all just be grateful they're potty trained." He paused before snobbishly adding, "They were toilet trained, right? You can never be too sure."

Madison felt a wave of shame and outrage flood every inch of her body. Maybe it was time.

Indignant, Madison sharply said, "Yes, they were. And they were polite and nice and funny. That's more than I can say for you."

Lilly raised her hand regally and patronizingly placed it on Madison's shoulder. "Aww, don't get mad, Madison. We were only making fun of them to make you feel better. We didn't know you liked them. It's not like we were even serious. Can't you take a joke?"

Some people may call her hasty in defying the 09ers based on a few weeks of sixties-style family togetherness, but looking over at the table where a happy Mac sat with her equally happy friends, the people the 09ers personally insulted or attacked at one time or another, she wondered if that could have been her sitting there with them if things were different. But, it was too late for 'what ifs'. And if Madison didn't do something now, this moment in time would, too, become another 'what if' that she could never visit again.

Adopting a tone of mock repentance, Lilly suggested, "How about this? I'll invite them over and they can be charity cases for my family too. Celeste is always bugging me about helping people. Who better to help than the poor? We can even give them a doggie bag."

It was definitely time.

Making up her mind, Madison tossed her hair over her shoulder, hopefully hitting Lilly in her stupid face, and stood up from her position next to the 09er queen. She looked over her shoulder only to say, "God, Lilly. If you've got so much money, why don't you buy some fucking class? That goes for the rest of you, too."

Lilly grabbed her arm forcefully. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Please, Lilly. You don't own me, and I am _so_ over letting you think you do."

Madison jerked her arm from Lilly's manicured claws, walked confidently to Mac's table, and sat down as if she hadn't personally ignited a wildfire of rumors.

.

"Maybe we need a bigger table," Dick joked, hoping to break the tension.

Mac had told Veronica of the dinners she and her family had with the Sinclairs, but judging by Madison's appearance at their table, maybe Mac was downplaying their significance. She looked to Mac for how to proceed.

Aware of Veronica's gaze but a little confused, Mac forced a smile at both her and Madison.

Approving of her wordlessly communicated intentions, Veronica smiled in return and feebly joked. "Or, someone needs to stop asking for entire batches of cookies as presents."

Madison looked at them gratefully and conversationally asked, "So, what are you eating?"

.

Back at the 09er tables, Shelly asserted, "Madison is seriously delusional if she's picking them over us."

To which Lilly had imperiously decreed, "I don't know a Madison, do you?"

.

They were a band of misfits. An eclectic group of people united by unforeseen circumstances. They were strong. And, they stood firm. If they could stick together, they would be able weather the horror of Valentine's Day. Or so Veronica thought before Wallace asked her for help with setting up clues to lead Georgia to her secret admirer, also known as Wallace Fennel.

Standing by her locker, Veronica asked Mac, "What is it about this day that makes people act so weirdly?"

"What do you mean?" She was patiently waiting for Veronica to retrieve her book so they could walk to chemistry together.

"I spent all night yesterday helping Wallace set up clues for Georgia to find that'd lead her to him."

Mac wrinkled her forehead in confusion. "That doesn't sound too hard."

"The hard part was making sure _she'd_ be able to solve it." Veronica shook her head in disappointment. "That girl is super sweet, but she's not the most critical thinker we know…," she said politely.

"Ah."

"Ah, indeed."

"I still don't see how that was weird. A little bit annoying, depending on your inclination, but creative."

"Try this on for size. Carmen informed me last weekend that she and _Eli_ would be attending his niece's recital and head to Crescent Beach for a candlelit dinner. It kind of explained why she's been so hard to reach at night."

"Eli?"

"Weevil."

"And that would be the cherry on top of the weird ice cream sundae."

"Yeah. I just don't see why we can't treat it as a normal day."

"Well… that's because not everyone wants to treat it as a normal day." Mac averted her eyes. With all the commotion involving Madison's induction into their group, she hadn't had the time to consult Veronica on what had been going on with her life… the more typical things that went on in a teenage girl's life anyway.

"Mac… Please don't tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"You have a date."

"Not exactly…"

"Then what exactly?"

"It's a 'hangout'," she air quoted.

She banged her head against her locker in resignation. "Of course it is."

"Actually, it's worse than you think. I think it's a double date with his brother."

Veronica perked up, and she smirked in realization. "Ooh," she said conspiratorially. "Did Cassidy finally ask you out?"

Mac looked at her in surprise. "How did you…"

"Come on, I know I'm usually busy with secret spy stuff, but I'm not blind."

"You could've told me."

"I didn't know you didn't know."

"How could you not?"

"Because I gave you the benefit of the doubt?"

"Well, this is what happens when you do."

"My apologies. Next time I'll just narrate your life for you."

"Thank you."

"Who's Dick stuck with?"

"In a twist of irony? Madison."

"I know you guys aren't related by blood," she whispered, amused. "But, the rich really do like to keep it in the family, don't they?"

"Shut up. Cassidy said they were tagging along as friends to just 'hang out'. I didn't even know they were still talking outside of the group. I heard their last breakup didn't go down very well."

Having been present at their last breakup, Veronica chose not comment. Instead, she joked, "My lips are sealed. But if the baby has a sixth toe, you call me immediately."

Veronica chuckled and spun the dial on the lock to her locker.

"People with six toes aren't that rare, you know. It's genetic."

"Yeah, yeah. I took biology, too. Man, you nerds really need to get a hobby."

"My hobby is saving your butt from having to do its own hacking and being tech savvy."

Facing Mac in response, she was caught off guard by the flurry of daffodils that spilled from her locker when she opened it.

Mac gave a once over of her locker and the mess of flowers on the floor and said, "Did you tell your secret admirer your thoughts regarding this day? Who are they from?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

Meg noticed the flowers from down the hall and giddily rushed to Mac and Veronica from her locker. "Logan?"

Veronica pointed to Meg and said, "Bingo. He broke into my car this morning, too, I don't even know how, but I suspect keys were copied, and filled my back seat with them."

"That's so romantic," Meg gushed. "Duncan's taking me out to dinner, but he only gave me perfume. This is way better."

"Actually, I think that's a crime."

"Girls do want the bad boys. And speak of the devil."

Logan swaggered up to the girl and leaned against the lockers. Pointedly, he commented, "It looks like someone filled your locker with your favorite flowers. Now who would do that?"

"I'm guessing the same person who broke into my car?"

"They wouldn't have happened to have left a calling card, did they?"

"Now that you mention it… I think it had a picture of a bear on it. You don't suppose Smokey wants to ask me out for Valentine's, do you?"

"Yeah, but since only I can prevent his ass from getting kicked, I don't think it was him."

"Threatening fictional characters, Logan? Really?"

"We bad boys protect our territory."

"Does this mean you're going to pee on my leg?"

"Only if you're into that." He quirked his eyebrow at her in challenge.

.

"I think this is their version of foreplay," Dick whispered from nowhere, scaring Mac.

Even more unnerving, Mac's body seemed to remember the comfort that Dick provided during Madison's party and responded to him favorably. Luckily, Meg blushed as well from his suggestive comment, so Mac's own blush was disguised.

.

"Guess again," she said, plucking a daffodil from her locker and twirling it coyly.

"Did you know that daffodil and narcissus are common names to describe the genus for these flowers?"

"No. But I didn't know I was surrounded by nerds either," she teased.

"_And_, Narcissus was a hunter who was known for his beauty in Greek mythology?"

"Didn't he die because he thought he was so beautiful that he couldn't look away from his own reflection?"

"Besides the point."

"What _is_ the point?"

"Since you like those flowers and I'm incontestably just like Narcissus, it's just no wonder you like me. The transitive properties of math. The more you know."

Before she could deny, deny, deny, Logan presented her with a brown teddy bear, which looked a lot like the one drawn on her card. She ignored the chorus of 'awws' from bystanders and the eavesdroppers behind them.

"What's this?"

"It's a stuffed bear."

"I see that. What's it doing staring at me?"

"Planning your downfall? I'm giving it to you, Mars. And I promise it'll keep its plotting down to a minimum. Do you like it?"

"It's… cute," she said slowly. "It's got a collar. Isn't that a little cruel?"

"It's just until I can get you to agree to wear a collar."

She took the bear from his hands and punched him in the arm. She couldn't believe he said that in public.

"I'll take that as a 'yes, you like it', then. Read the collar."

She looked at it hesitantly and read aloud, "'Logan'?"

"That's his name."

"You named a bear after yourself?"

"I named _your_ bear after myself."

"I'm starting to see the resemblance between you and Narcissus a lot more now."

"In the name of not prolonging the suspense any further, dinner tonight?"

"You mean like a date?"

"Yeah, that's what I'd be hoping to call it. Perhaps it'll go well enough to even warrant a goodnight 'kiss'." He air quoted 'kiss', hinting at their negotiated terms.

She blushed and averted her eyes. There were issues that she hadn't resolved yet and insecurities that made her ever hesitant. However, she couldn't, and possibly didn't want to, stop him from chipping away at her defenses. After their New Year's 'date', because she couldn't call it a 'hangout' since they held hands _and_ kissed, Veronica had made it very clear that there would be no more kissing or 'upholding of traditions'. This led to them negotiating what constituted kissing. Lips touching, fine. Her compromise. Tongue, not fine. His compromise. At this point, if they weren't careful, semantics would run their lives.

Veronica didn't want to say yes; well, actually, seeing that shmoopy look in his eyes, she melted and forgot why she didn't want to say yes. So, she offered a compromise. "How about lunch instead?"

Smirking, he agreed, "Sure. Lunch it is." He kissed the top of her head and the bear. "Make sure to give him lots of love or he'll die."

She was suspicious of why he'd agree so quickly but didn't call him on it. Instead, she said, "So high maintenance. Just like his namesake."

"Come on, let's go to class or we'll be late."

Not wanting to interrupt the two of them in their private moment, Mac waited until they were further down the hallway before walking to their shared class. However, Dick and Meg excitedly trailed behind them, possibly closer than they should have been with their giggling and excitement. Dick could be such a girl sometimes, she thought, especially with that hair. She inexplicably thought of what it would feel like to run her fingers through them. She bet it would feel nice and soft.

In class, with Veronica distracted by the lesson, Logan sent messages to everyone to leave him and Veronica alone for lunch.

.

Veronica wasn't unaccustomed with eating lunch with only one or two other people. However, after the past few months of having a full lunch table, it felt weird. Or maybe it was just because the other person she was having lunch with was Logan.

True, they've had private 'hangouts' that may or may not have had romantic undertones, but they had never been out in public, just at either his house or her house… or the ice cream shop… or the beach… and their cars. But, that was it. Really. Put on display in the lunch area made everything seem a lot more real, and she felt her fears creeping in.

She mentally threw off those thoughts; she was being ridiculous. She didn't go around kissing just anyone after all. That was made very clear earlier this week when Deputy D'Amato had asked her out on a date, and she freaked out when he tried to kiss her. While reflecting on what was a very embarrassing moment for everyone involved, Veronica thought that, although Leo was a stand up guy, his attempt at kissing her still scared the bejeezus out of her. Which led to her thinking about Logan in a roundabout way, and she concluded that if he's the only person her subconscious trusted and wanted, then maybe she should take his attempts at wooing her more seriously. And then the issue of her unknown rapist reared its ugly head into her thoughts, and everything went to hell inside her mind. She shook her head clear again. Like now.

Focusing on more pleasant thoughts, Veronica's mind jumped to the pros and cons of holding hands with someone who was left-handed. Pro, they could both eat their sushi without pesky elbows getting in the way. Con, well, that was as far as her mind had gotten. It was a really good pro argument.

She felt Logan squeeze her hand tighter, and she looked up.

It was an odd day indeed when Duncan Kane would willingly sit with them for lunch, pretending to be cheerful while masking his anger. That reaction actually understated what she was really thinking, which was: what the actual fuck?

Logan glared at his friend in outrage. He knew exactly what he was trying to do. And, what he was doing was deplorable even just based on the fact that he had Meg.

Meg ran up to the table immediately after, whispering excitedly in his ear, she said, "Duncan, don't you remember? I told you Logan wanted to have lunch with Veronica alone because it was Valentine's. Let's go."

She pulled on his arm, but he only smiled at her.

Calmly, he pointed out, "Come on, Meg. You always said that I should eat lunch with your friends more. So, that's what I'm doing. Come, sit."

"Duncan," she admonished. "This isn't the time. Sorry, guys. Happy Valentine's! Enjoy your lunch date."

Logan and Veronica watched in amazement as Meg dragged an unwilling Duncan, who had over twenty five pounds on her, away to a table far, far away from them.

Eyes not leaving their retreating figures until she could no longer see them, Veronica asked, "When did we step into the Twilight Zone?"

In a dark mood, he was glad to have Veronica there to distract him and pull him out of his funk whether she was aware of it or not. "Good question. But, does it matter?"

"A little. I want to know when Rod Serling is supposed to show up. He has that kind of face that you just want to punch."

Logan laughed, "Are you serious?"

"Only halfway. He looks so gosh darn smug every damn time he shows up and does his monologue or whatever."

"You're cute when you're irrationally angry."

"Logan the bear agrees with me, you know."

Indulgently, he asked, "Does he now?"

"Yep. He has to if he plans on taking up residency with me."

He shot her a look of adoration when he thought she wasn't looking. "Where is he anyway?"

She took a bite of her sushi and conversationally answered, "Put him in my car."

With fake shock and indignation, he exclaimed, "You left him in your car? I think that counts as negligence."

"I was kidding. He's in my bag."

She patted the side of her messenger bag with the hand not currently attached to Logan.

"Is he suffocating?"

"Don't you think you're taking this a little too far?"

"Well, he is my proxy. I want him to be treated like you would treat me."

She laughed lightheartedly. "Okay, I can't play along anymore. You're mental."

It was times like these that Veronica felt her lightest and most content, and she momentarily thought that it didn't really matter the reservations she had about a relationship with Logan so long as things always felt that way.

.

Cassidy nervously fiddled with his tie. He had to have Dick teach him just for this occasion. He tried getting his father to help him, but that was a matter that was better left not mentioning.

When he had Mac alone, without his brother or their friends around, and was about to ask her out for Valentine's Day, he had panicked and the words caught in his throat. And when they tumbled ineloquently from his mouth, he had somehow managed to get her to agree to hang out with him instead… along with his brother and Madison.

He wondered briefly if girls asked seemingly innocuous questions just to see him make a fool out of himself. When Mac asked him if it was just him and Dick, he had panicked further, to the point of almost vomiting, and blurted that Madison was actually coming along, too, so she wouldn't have to be nervous. At which point, he tripped over himself trying to explain that she had nothing to be nervous about anyway since they were just hanging out.

He was really a mess.

At least Dick hadn't teased him too much and had agreed to help him out.

Finally, he decided that his tie was on properly, and headed out to Dick's car, where he was waiting for him.

.

It wasn't a date, not really. He even said it wasn't a date. It was a _favor_. She would merely help him act as a buffer so that his little brother and Mac would feel comfortable. Still, that didn't mean that she couldn't look amazing while helping him out.

One of her many regrets during her past years of bitchdom was how she treated Dick. When Dick broke up with her for the first time in their on and off five year relationship, it was one of the few times that Madison was afraid that she had truly lost him. Though, it did also make her realize what he meant to her.

When he broke up with her, all bets were off, and she felt off balance all the way up until she spoke to him again on her birthday, albeit with his friends—who were somewhat her friends now. They spent a good portion of the night reminiscing about the happier times in their relationship… when she wasn't treating him like dirt. At the time, she wanted it to mean something. It had to mean something. It _did _mean something, and she thought about making the first move to get him back. Then she saw Mac sitting in her father's study, and most comprehensible thoughts flew out of her mind. Then the issue of spending time with her parents, biological and adoptive, took up most of her thoughts.

And now, here was her chance. He had chosen her to be his date for the double date with his brother. Sure, he had said that Cassidy was the one who chose her, but she liked to think that he was being shy. He was always a little bashful when he was unsure of himself. It was endearing, really.

So, if this led to reconciliation between the two of them, so be it.

Hearing her phone ring, she ran over and picked it up.

"Hey."

She recognized the voice. It was Dick.

"Hey," she said a little too happily. Keep it under control, Madison.

"We're in your driveway now. Come out when you're done."

"I'm ready. Be out soon."

There was a pause, and she thought the call had dropped until he laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry, Madison. I just couldn't remember the last time you got ready on time. See you soon."

See you soon, Dick Casablancas. She blew a kiss to her mirror image and enthusiastically waved goodbye to her parents, who, despite all the progress that they made with her, were still a little unused to seeing her outwardly express her happiness towards them.

Once again, Ellen and Michael Sinclair thought about how much better it would've been if they just talked it out in the first place. Better late than never, they supposed.

.

Dick dropped Mac off first.

All in all, Mac had a good time. Though, she was sure she'd never quite get the chocolate sauce out of her skirt. Oh well, she wasn't particularly fond of the skirt anyway. Her mother had forced her to wear it when she realized that Mac was going on a date, despite her claims that it really was just a hangout that happened to be on Valentine's Day.

.

Cassidy fidgeted with his tie nervously. He was sure that he'd ruined the entire date—_hangout_—oh, who was he kidding? It was a date, and he had ruined it.

He was certain that Mac had spent the entire car ride back to her house in silence because she was mad at him. It must have been her favorite skirt or something. He thought she looked nice in it, too. He really hadn't been trying to irrevocably ruin it because he didn't like it. Honest. He was just being polite when he tried to offer her some of his dessert. He wasn't aware that the chocolate sauce spelled out doom.

Oh, no. Dick had already reached Mac's house while he was fidgeting. Damn it.

Mac reached her front steps, and he rushed after her, not sure what he was going to do when he caught up to her.

"Mac! Wait!"

.

Mac paused at her door and waited for him to catch up. She wondered if she forgot something in the car and frowned.

.

Shit. She's frowning. She must be really pissed at him.

"I'm sorry, Mac. I didn't mean to mess up your skirt. It was an accident."

Thankfully, Mac had unjumbled enough of his words to get the gist of what he was trying to get across and smiled. Kindly, she said, "It's cool. I didn't even like it. Don't worry about it."

Uncertain, Cassidy pressed, "Are you sure? I mean, I can buy—I _should_ buy you something else to replace it."

She laughed. "It's fine. I should thank you for being a part of its demise."

"It's just, you didn't say anything on the way here, so I thought you were mad at me."

"Oh," she exclaimed, still laughing. "I just don't like to talk during car rides because I get a little car sick on long car rides. The restaurant wasn't exactly down the street from here."

Hopefully, he asked, "Really?"

Her eyes warmed and full of mirth, she apologized. "Yes. I'm sorry I worried you."

Spontaneously, she kissed his cheek, to emphasize her regret for causing him unnecessary grief.

Stunned, Cassidy stood frozen to the spot until she bade him goodbye and pushed him away.

"Goodnight, Cassidy. Thanks for inviting me to hang out."

"No problem... Night, Mac," he said in awe.

.

Dick watched Mac voluntarily kiss Cassidy. Impulsively, he grabbed Madison's hand and pulled her in for a kiss. Fuck if he knew what he was doing or why.

.

Madison was pleasantly surprised when Dick kissed her after, especially since they were in his truck in front of Mac's house, but she accepted and reciprocated nonetheless, breaking apart only when Cassidy came back and demanded they stop to spare him.

It definitely meant something.

She knew that it never hurt to look good.

.

Dick didn't have to look up to know that Mac was safely inside her house. The sound of a slamming door was enough, though he had no idea what it meant.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

Timeline overview: Second week of January. Mac gives Veronica the files. The group goes to Madison's birthday party. Third week of January. Mac talks to Madison in the bathroom. Fourth week of January. The Sinclairs and the Mackenzies have dinner. Second week of February. Leo asks Veronica out on a date and tries to kiss her. Lilly outs Madison. Third week of February. Mac, Madison, Dick, and Cassidy double date, while the rest of the group goes on their own separate dates.

First, an amendment for **spoilerlover**: I guess I did write Wallace pairing up with someone, but it was such a small paragraph, I didn't remember. Oops. To **JeniLyn2000**: I'm so obvious with the foreshadowing I give you guys, that it's kind of embarrassing. Veronica does get around to reading Duncan's laptop though… eventually. The secret item in Logan's locker is a secret! ^^ Until further notice or until someone magically guesses it. Lilly will make be featured more in the next chapter, in which you will either hate her or hate her less?... To **guest**: You think it, and it happens? Lucky. I'm still waiting for Jason Dohring to show up at my doorstep. Unfortunately, Lynn has a bit of trouble ahead of her. However, I think you'll like how she turns out. And, well then, I hope you keep that in mind for the next chapter because Lilly is not a happy camper. But, I'm probably overexaggerating. To **calypso**: I still caved on writing LoVe scenes, though. I couldn't help it, especially since Valentine's Day came up, but I still think they're taking things at a good pace. Also, it's because Keith Mars is automatically hilarious. ^^

Fun fact: My application to Oregon is due very soon, but I preferred to write this than the essays for that. And, if you're an application reviewer for any university in Oregon, ignore this, please. Or, perhaps we can work something out… Wink. Priorities, I need some. Also, my secret reason behind Madison being redeemed in this story is entirely selfish. I figured, if she's not a bitch, then she'd never sleep with Logan and thus ruin Logan and Veronica's relationship in season 3. Yeah...

Possible spoilers for the next chapter: A trip to the hospital.

So, Logan and Veronica are still taking things slowly, but they're getting there. Logan is sooo shmoopy right now. Thank goodness he gets his manly man card back later. Also, Mac/Cassidy/Madison/Dick presents itself as a clusterfuck. Ta da.

If Mac-centric chapters weren't your cup of tea, I hope you enjoyed the rest of the chapter. And for simplicity's sake, let's pretend that Mac and Madison don't have siblings. And, you know, if my terrible interpretation of how things might turn out were, well, terrible, then I apologize beforehand since this chapter was really difficult to write as I have no idea how someone in that position would actually feel. And, I'm certain that reconciliations take a lot longer than a month weeks to happen especially with years of issues and resentment from Madison's side… and this is where that suspension of disbelief comes in. Which makes me think… Beta? Thoughts?

Also, this (longer than usual/long ass) chapter was my gift to you guys because I'm in school now (first class in a few hours), and I'd like for you guys to think fondly of and remember the good old days when I used to update frequently if you don't see me updating for a couple of weeks… Edit: Frack. I hate school. I already have ish to do.


	12. Chapter 12

**King of Mars**

A/N: Hey everyone! Important disclaimer here: When you're reading this chapter, I'd like you guys to keep in mind that I was never aiming for a realistic story… the events that follow are not probable; in fact, they rely heavily on coincidence, but they are possible. Just think of season two episode one where Veronica conveniently sees Lilly's ghost who leads her away from the bus and saves her. Yeah. I need that level of suspension of disbelief. Who knows? I might even just scrap this chapter. Thanks & enjoy! ^^

Chapter 12

.

Aaron fumbled against her body, rough and cumbersome.

To keep from rolling her eyes, Lilly stared at the unfamiliar ceiling of the Camelot. The poor and unfortunate, but _new_, setting for their affair.

It was a miracle that she had been able to convince him to come to the Camelot at all.

He had been set on only meeting at the Neptune Grande after almost being caught in the pool house because of the Neptune Grande's policy of discretion and privacy given to all their visitors. However, she had been able to plant seeds of doubt and convince Aaron that if he kept showing up at the Neptune Grande with someone other than his wife, the paparazzi were bound to show up. With his 'family man' image, she had been able to convince him that the seedy people at the Camelot Motel mostly kept to themselves and wouldn't care what they were doing. He lapped it up.

She somewhat missed the familiar ceiling at the Neptune Grande though. Once, while they were still using the Neptune Grande, she was able to count the cracks in the ceiling. Fourteen. Another time, he had lasted long enough for her to finish counting the number of seashells adorning the upper trim of the walls. Forty six.

This time, she christened the new setting by counting the number of water stains splattered across the stucco ceiling. Twenty… Twenty one… Twenty two…

Though infinitely more questionably sanitary, Lilly chose the Camelot for a reason. Despite what she told Aaron, one of its perks was the _lack_ of privacy. Why, just about anyone on the street could look in through the window blinds that she happened to leave slightly turned and see what they were doing.

She stifled a yawn now. The excitement he had once brought her had long worn off. His star appeal wasn't even enough. She was bored of him. And, usually when she was bored, she'd move onto the next one. However, until her work was done, she had no choice but to go through with the motions. Speaking of…

He was grunting faster now. Thrusting erratically.

It was almost her cue.

Yes. There.

His jaw dropped slightly, and he threw his head back.

She had previously tested out and confirmed her theory that it didn't matter how badly she faked it with him, he'd still think he was God's gift to women. So, she halfheartedly shook and moaned, thinking thirty nine and she hadn't even finished counting yet.

He grinned arrogantly at her and cluelessly rubbed her right breast before rolling over to one side of the bed. He liked to nap, as always, before leaving.

Well, that was certainly five minutes well spent, she thought. You can't spell arrogant without Aaron.

Lilly, too, settled in, except she would only pretend to fall asleep. She was simply too excited about her plan.

From what the guy she was blackmailing had told her, everything would be finished after this last tryst.

She pressed her thighs together in anticipation, a rare emotion when in bed with Aaron, feeling the rush of imminent triumph wash over and arouse her.

.

Dick, Mac, Logan, and Veronica sat around Dick's room working on their homework. Rather, Mac was working on her homework. The other three were doing their own things.

Surprisingly, the work from Veronica's side business had begun to pile up after Mac had suggested she set up her business online. And, for a cut of the profits, Mac created the website for her, called 'Get the Dirt', and would provide technical assistance. College wasn't going to pay for itself after all.

Thus, Veronica was working on compiling information on more of her peers' parents since she finished all of her homework while waiting for Aaron and Lilly the previous day anyway. She was pleased. Though, not exactly pleased considering what she was dealing with. Perhaps it was a feeling of triumph. Either way, she had finally gotten _non_circumstantial evidence for Lynn after following Lilly and Aaron to the Camelot.

Their hubris, like many before them, would be their downfall, she supposed. She'd give her father the pictures as soon as she dealt with everything else now that that case wasn't a top priority for her anymore.

Logan was on also his own laptop, researching tracking devices and using his body to block Veronica's view of his laptop screen. It always drove her up the wall when he kept things from her, but he couldn't pass it up, not when she pouted whenever she sulked. He chuckled, knowing she was looking over at him.

Additionally, he especially didn't want her to know he was looking up tracking devices to level the playing field in the game they had recently started. It was similar to a game of hide and seek… of sorts. Or, maybe it was simply a chase since she was the one who was perpetually hiding.

He didn't think their relationship had regressed to where she was avoiding him simply to avoid him. However, he did know that she keeping tabs on him so that he couldn't catch her off guard anymore.

Incidentally, one day, he had snuck into her room through her window to surprise her, and when she came into her room, she had snapped at him while scrambling to hide whatever she was working on. Since then, he hadn't been able to surprise her or sneak up on her, and her window remained closed and locked. Veronica pretended it never happened, despite his interrogations as to why she was acting so oddly.

Eventually, he figured out how she was always one step ahead of him when he found a tracker on one of his credit cards _and _his car. He knew they were hers because he recognized them from when she had excitedly shown him the assortment of PI equipment she'd bought using her 'Get the Dirt' website money. Logan was only slightly amused that she had to resort to such tactics.

Although, frankly, Logan didn't care all that much about the case or why she was being so secretive—okay, he _was_ curious as to why she needed such a high level of confidentiality for one of her cases—but her avoiding him meant they spent less time together. So, since he wanted to spend more time with her and turnabout is fair play, he'd use her PI tricks against her.

Meanwhile, Dick was expending all his mental faculties wondering why he agreed to host their little study date when he was ardently trying to avoid Mac and no one was doing any studying, except for Mac. Maybe. He didn't know. It wasn't like he was staring at her.

Dick sucked in his breath, breaking the silence. He asked Veronica, "Hey, Ronnie, can I see your history homework?"

Veronica looked up from sneaking peeks at Logan's laptop and said, "Sorry. I left it at home."

Mac incredulously asked, "You're in AP US History?"

"Yeah. Different period from Ronnie, but same dinosaur teaching it."

"Which period?"

"Fifth."

"That's my period. I've never seen you."

"I sit in the back."

"The way back," Logan assured.

"It's okay if you don't believe me. Not a lot of people can handle me being the whole package. Brains. Beauty. Brawn. All that."

"No… I do." She flushed, ashamed. "It's just… Yeah, it's a little hard to believe. You don't seem like the type to want to take AP classes."

He shrugged in response. "I can't get by on my looks my whole life."

Logan quickly interjected, "You can't get by on your looks, period."

Dick wadded up a paper ball and threw it at him. Logan easily swatted the low flying projectile, accidentally hitting Veronica's nose.

Rubbing the tip of her nose, Veronica scolded them. "Children, please. Mommy needs to get her work done."

He threw another paper ball at Logan, this time hitting his mark on the ear. "Yes, _Mom_. You know, you are around the right age for my dad. Wanna be Mommy number four for me and Cassidy? We already like you more than Mommy one, two, and three."

She scrunched up her nose in offense. Dick, Sr. did have a penchant for marrying younger women. A lot younger. "Eww. No. And, whatever. That's still better than you guys calling me 'Ronnie'. Seriously, it makes me sound like a teamster."

"Stop eating like one and I'll think about calling you something else."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"_Children_," Mac mocked. "Here, Dick. I'll lend you mine."

Mac handed him the history worksheets their teacher assigned them. She noticed that he grabbed the papers by the corner furthest from her fingertips and quickly returned to his own section of the room to work. Ever since Valentine's Day, he had been acting weirdly, and she wasn't sure why. She knew why _she_ was acting weirdly but couldn't fathom why he would be.

Unless, he knew, she thought with a panic. Did he know that she felt something for him that wasn't completely platonic? Is that why? Shit shit shit. What if he told Madison? What if he told _Cassidy_?

She glanced at him and caught him quickly averting his eyes. Shit.

She was turning into the type of girl that she'd always hated. Shit on a damn stick.

Mac watched him open his mouth, expecting an accusation.

"Who's Cindy and why do you have her stuff?"

_I_ _do not have a crush on you!_ She almost blurted. Instead she bit her tongue and unintelligently stumbled over her words. "I'm me."

Mac could have banged her head against the wall, hoping to kill the brain cells that contained this particular memory. Smooth, Mac Very smooth.

Confused, Dick said, "I know. I was asking who Cindy was."

"_I_ know. I was answering you."

"How?"

Embarrassed, she argued, "I said, 'I'm me.'"

"How does that answer my question?"

"How does it not?"

"What?"

"What, what?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What are _you_ talking about?"

"I just wanted to know who Cindy was!"

"I told you, I'm me!"

"I know you are, but who's Cindy?!"

Seeing that Logan was enjoying their exchange too much to stop them from giving her a headache, Veronica imitated a buzzer, startling them all. They turned to look at her.

"No lowbrow comedy routines, please. Dick, Mac's real name is Cindy Mackenzie. We call her Mac because it's short for Mackenzie and because she'd destroy us if we called her Cindy on purpose. There. I just saved us all from another painful minute of B-movie reenactments."

"_You're_ Cindy?"

"I told you I was me."

Veronica loudly clapped her hands together once. Dryly, she said, "Yeah… Glad we got that sorted out…"

With sudden realization, Mac said slowly. "Do you not remember me from… about every year since we started kindergarten?"

"No, yeah. I mean. I remember a Cindy, but I thought she moved away after elementary school."

Veronica interrupted again to defend Dick. "To be fair, after sixth grade, the cliques did start to get pretty exclusive."

"You heartless tweens," Logan admonished.

"As if you weren't in your own little clique. I'm guessing the popular kids. Name one person you knew whose parents weren't famous or kajillionaires."

Logan flipped through his mental rolodex. "Langdon Alger?"

Veronica arched her eyebrow and gave him a silent look.

"Fine… But, to be fair, I did go to _private_ schools. The kind of schools where the only things we lack are poor people."

"Duly noted," Veronica replied, rolling her eyes at his description of his privileged schooling.

"How could you not recognize me? The hair's a dead giveaway with those blonde Barbies walking around. No offense, Veronica."

"Umm, none taken until you said that."

Veronica threw the paper ball that hit her at Mac who didn't dodge in time.

Sheepishly, Dick replied, "Uhh… Puberty?"

Logan wadded up a new paper ball to throw at him. "Good answer, Dick."

Another half an hour went by before Dick, Mac, Logan, and Veronica called it quits. Mac had finished most of her homework. Logan had thought of the perfect way to hide a tracker on Veronica and just needed to find someone who could customize it for him. And, Veronica was making progress on all the back orders from her website.

Dick was soon left alone in his room, thinking about Cindy who turned into Mac. Or, rather, Mac who turned out to be Cindy.

All these years, he had unwittingly been thinking about Mac whenever he thought about Cindy. And, he thought about Cindy a lot since he often thought about how Madison used to be throughout their on-and-off relationship. It was hard not to think about the both of them when he thought about Madison because most of his sixth grade memories of Madison, his favorite memories of her, consisted of the two girls joined at the hip… before Cindy had dropped off the face of the earth.

In his mind, he'd constantly compare the two of them, too. Cindy and Madison. He'd think about how well they complemented each other, yet were still so alike at the same time.

In the past couple of years or so, he often wondered if Cindy had turned out like Madison or if she stayed true to her sixth grade self.

It had gotten to the point where he started idolizing the teenage version of Cindy he concocted in his mind because of the way his memories had distorted her, taking away the bad and leaving only the good, magnifying them. Romanticizing them.

Unfortunately and coincidentally, or maybe life was just trying to screw him over, Cindy managed to manifest before him as 'Mac' when her other half made her way back to him as well. Madison was back to being genuine and vivacious, akin to how he remembered her, but not quite. It had been years, after all, and no one stays the same. But, he was still drawn to her all over again after her most recent change, assuming he ever stopped, much like his sixth grade self had been.

Consequently, he was back to thinking about the two of them. But, this time, the playing field had shifted. Because now, it was _Mac_ and Madison.

_Mac_ was more than on par with Madison. But, Madison, for the first time in years, was trying to win him back. She was his first love. His first everything. It would be better this time, too. Their relationship would be real and not based on a power play. He was finally getting what he wanted.

He reminded himself, this shouldn't even be a problem because Mac was off limits.

She was Cassidy's, and that was that.

So why couldn't he stop himself from thinking that Mac was better than the imaginary Cindy he had dreamt up?

.

Madison adjusted her expensive bag on her shoulder and held her head high, ignoring the stares of the 09ers as she walked down the long hallway to her locker. It was apparent that they had no lingering feelings of camaraderie with her, but she would not dwell on it. There was no real loyalty among her former ilk anyway, she thought. _That_ was apparent when Lilly came into town.

She tripped, stumbling, her lip gloss and pens spilling from her purse.

Madison looked back and glared at the meathead who shoved her. Danny King. Real class act. He always was a pig to her, even when she was queen. He had been jealous that she spurned his advances and stuck with Dick even in their off periods.

He made no apologies. But that was just as well. Madison didn't think it was an accident in the first place. People, more specifically the 09ers and the hangers on, had taken to bullying her as of late. Just another side effect of falling out with the in crowd, she supposed.

As she gathered her belongings from the floor, she heard a masculine groan from behind her. It sounded painful, too.

Madison finally registered Danny prone on the floor, clutching the front of his pants. His face was screwed up, howling in pain.

.

Veronica would like to be able to say that she was shocked with how people were treating Madison, but she couldn't. She wasn't shocked in the slightest.

She watched Madison jut out her jaw and calmly collect her things from the floor. She was slightly impressed with the extent to which Madison was willing to let things go for the sake of returning back to normal. However, at the same time, she was disappointed. Madison seemed so passive. She seemed to forget that her passive attitude wasn't normal for her in the least. Even when they were younger and she was nicer, Madison stood up for the kids who didn't know how to use their own voices yet.

As Veronica kneed Danny King in the groin and stepped over him, she considered the current Madison that appeared over the course of the past month or so. Veronica had been burned once before because she believed in the inherent good of people. She didn't want it to happen again, and she didn't want Mac to experience it either.

The past was in the past. So, she would leave it there as well. There was no use for nostalgia when even Madison herself forgot.

Still, undetermined status on Madison's supposedly genuine change aside, she just couldn't let that idiot get away with acting like a dumbass. Like many times before, her father's voice whispered too strong in her ear for her to walk away.

.

Madison was a little stunned to see Veronica as the clear perpetrator of Danny's current predicament.

While Veronica hadn't outright turned her away, she had been, on the whole, indifferent and bordering on clinical to her. Though, she supposed she could understand after the way she had treated her for the past couple of… years. A few weeks of politeness and niceties weren't going to make a dent in that. In fact, even with all of the time they spent together and bonding, she was still working hard to improve her relationship with Mac. So, what chance did she have with Veronica?

Still, Madison smiled at her to express her gratitude, widening her smile when Veronica returned it.

They were definitely different people now, but maybe they could be friends again.

.

She sighed. The girls had remembered to throw her cheerleading uniform into the toilet this time. Why did she think this kind of thing was so funny when she was doing it to the other girls?

As she scrolled down her cell phone's phonebook, looking for someone who would be free this period to help her, she began to delete her old friends' numbers. There weren't many people she could count on these days. It was pointless to keep the ones she couldn't in her phone.

Angie Dahl. Delete. Scroll, delete, scroll, delete. Cassidy, keep. Cole, delete. Scroll, delete. Danny King. Delete for sure. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Delete, delete, delete. How did she accumulate such wastes of space on her phone?

She stopped at Dick's number. School was almost out. Dick could've cut out early to go surfing. She took the chance anyway and called him.

After their Valentine's Day kiss, Madison had been so ecstatic and grateful for Dick's willingness to give her another chance. She'd be perfect this time around. He could count on it _and _her, too. And then, when things were more settled, they could have tons of fun double dating with Mac and Cassidy.

Sitting in her towel, she hummed happily as she awaited Dick's reply.

.

With Carmen sitting with Weevil's group today, and Meg with Duncan, their table was less crowded than usual at lunch. She almost missed the cramped feeling. Almost. She had her personal space back, and you just don't say no to that.

A spit wad landed in her hair, the trajectory off.

However, there are things you do say no to. Like spit wads. What were they, third graders?

She untangled the mushy mass of paper from the strands of hair, and ran a napkin through her hair to clean it as best she could. Disgusting.

Off to her side, she could feel Logan tensing, so she put a hand on his arm to stop him from making a scene. This wasn't her battle, and it certainly wasn't going to be his either. Maybe if they were throwing bricks, she'd interfere, but balls of spit and paper were a minor thing. Unhygienic and annoying at worst.

Still, she thought, as another spit wad landed in her lunch, there was something to be said about pushing people in the right direction to get them to fight their own battles. "I respect your decision to not deal with them, but are you really going to let them walk all over you?"

Veronica's question startled Madison. She thought they were all just going to keep quiet about her obvious bullying problem. Neither girl mentioned the incident with Danny King to anyone.

"You took the high road. Why can't I?"

"Actually, I used the back streets. The high road is for people who live on ideas that are only good in theory. They think they're being mature, but all they're doing is running away, avoiding their problems, and hiding from the real issues."

A bit taken aback by Veronica's somewhat hostile attitude, she stated, "I'm not letting anyone walk over me. And I'm not running, avoiding, or hiding. I'm right here."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I just don't care what they think anymore, Veronica."

"That's great, but you can show them that they can't bully you like this. You have to fight back. Show Lilly and her cronies that you can stand up for yourself. Fight back."

Madison sighed. "I can't do all the insane things you can. I'm not like you. I can't go around kicking people twice my size in the balls."

The boys around the table winced, not knowing who the victim was but sympathizing all the same.

Realizing he was missing something, Logan asked, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Technically, I kneed him."

The corner of his lips twitched at her reply that wasn't really an answer.

Madison's lips curved upward as well. "Yeah. That. That's just not me. Maybe before, but now I'm just happy being here. Eventually, they'll just get bored. Trust me. I was one of them for a long time."

Veronica wasn't satisfied with her answer, but she agreed. Madison _wasn't_ like her. Whereas Veronica donned chain metal and broadsword when she resolved to change, Madison took her armor off. And, according to Mac's claims, it was for the better, not that Veronica was completely convinced.

Madison's instant clinging onto Dick again didn't help things either. Veronica was not going to let Madison string Dick along yet again. Therefore, she tried to keep the two apart as much as possible. Unfortunately, Dick wasn't as reluctant as Veronica would have liked, and far be it from her to lecture Dick on his love life when she was walking blind in a jungle with Logan as her heavily subjective guide.

.

Two days later, Veronica watched as a few 09ers surrounded Madison in the quad. From what she could hear, they weren't happy that she hadn't been responding to their tactics. She could see Lilly perched atop the metal railing, marking the boundary of the quad and separating it from the back parking lot of the school. She sat cross-legged and malevolent.

Lilly was playing no observable part in the confrontation, but there was no doubt in Veronica's mind that she had been the one to call for the confrontation. It was odd, though. Veronica wouldn't have thought that Lilly would take personal care to teach Madison a lesson. Perhaps Madison's defection from Lilly's rule was more significant to Lilly than she thought.

Veronica noticed that Danny King was there as well. He must have been experiencing sour grapes as well as shrunken ones after Veronica introduced her knee to his groin.

He knocked the spiral notebook from Madison's arms. Definitely sour grapes and some compensating going on there.

Do not engage, she thought. Do not engage. It's not your problem. Madison isn't like you. She doesn't need to learn to fight back. Her father's voice nagged at her, but she did her best to silence him. Since when did he want her to get into fights?

He stepped forward. Madison stepped back.

No one saw Lilly stick out her foot to catch behind Madison's calf, tripping her and sending her stumbling down the thankfully few steps leading to the asphalt of the parking lot.

Madison rubbed her ankles and elbows in obvious pain.

Fuck it.

This wasn't just about Madison anymore. Or her father's deeply ingrained teachings. It was about Lilly. Lilly making someone else a victim. Lilly being a bitch.

Lilly was getting increasingly out of hand. Needlessly malicious. Though, that may redundant to say.

And, Veronica was sick of people getting in the crosshairs of whatever sick shit Lilly had going through her mind that would make her such a terrible wretch of a person.

.

Lilly watched in idle pleasure as the others took their turns insulting Madison. _Madison who_, indeed. It wasn't hard to persuade the others that this was not the Madison they knew since Madison was surrounded by the other 09er rejects, as Lilly had referred to them. This Madison had betrayed them, made a decision to turn her back on her long time friends. And, if she wasn't with them, then she was against them.

Because, for Lilly, it wasn't enough that she was blacklisted from all the parties and snubbed at every corner. She had more to pay for.

Lilly noticed the change in Madison's demeanor, the change she had traced back to family dinners, family nights, family drives, and whatever bull shit Stepford family activities the Sinclairs chose to reenact. It was nauseating, and Lilly was forced to do something about it.

For all the newfound happiness that Madison had with her family, Lilly would take away in other areas.

Spitefully, she stuck out her leg.

We _all_ fall down, she thought. No one gets to escape.

When Veronica stomped towards her, she excitedly hopped off the railing.

Predictably, Veronica started ranting at her.

"What did you think you were doing? You could have really hurt her!"

"_Veronica_," she enunciated with a sneer, ignoring her accusations. "What a surprise. I almost didn't see you skulking in the shadows over there. If you're looking for some Johns, I'd suggest the boardwalk."

"But, _Lilly_," she returned with equal distaste. "I'd hate to compete with someone who's giving it away for free. Why don't you tell me what time you're working the boardwalk, and we can set up a schedule?"

Veronica wanted to attend to Madison, but even when she detested her very being, Lilly's presence commanded her attention.

The other 09ers behind her looked skittish. Madison seemed to forget her injuries and gaped openly at Veronica and Lilly. The two of them butting heads wasn't new, but this face to face confrontation called to mind the first blowout between the two of them. They all knew something big was going to happen. They just had to wait and see who would make the first move.

Only, it seemed they didn't have to wait long.

"Oh, you. You know, you changed. I told you, right? You used to be a lot more fun," Lilly circled around her, out of arms reach, yet again reminiscent of another encounter of theirs. The 09ers automatically backed up further, wanting to bear witness but not wanting to be a part.

Lilly spun around to face Veronica. Tugging on a lock of Veronica's now shoulder length hair, she said, "What happened?" She then stared straight into Veronica's eyes. "What could have possibly happened to _you_?"

Veronica's eyes flashed wildly, triggered into barely controlled rage. She pulled at Lilly's wrist and clenched it tightly. There would be no letting go this time. There was no fear to give her pause, only furious justice pounding through her bloodstream. She enjoyed the way Lilly winced in pain. She obviously didn't expect Veronica to use something other than her words to retaliate. But, like she told Madison, the high road just wasn't for her.

Lilly tried prying Veronica's hand off, clawing at it, to no avail.

"You know exactly what happened," she said, voice laced with arsenic. "I used to think that what happened after wasn't your fault. That there was _no_ way you would have set that up. It was too unthinkable. _Evil_. Downright deplorable."

Lilly huffed, "What are you talking about? Let me go, you _filthy_ slut."

Her words only served to fan the flames of Veronica's ire.

"I gave you the bare minimum of credit to your humanity, and it was still too much. But, I admit that was one of the mistakes I made with you. I guess… you're _not_ human. You can't be." She shook her head. "People who are able to live with themselves doing what you do can't possibly exist."

Lilly's own anger went supernova, matching Veronica's quickly.

Each girl had poked and prodded at the fleshy sore spots of the other. The ones with festering wounds that had bandaids slapped over them. Ignored for the most part, but still in desperate need of actual mending. They were ripped open now.

Veronica knew nothing about her, Lilly thought. Veronica couldn't begin to imagine what her life was like. What she dealt with.

Lilly jerked her arm back suddenly, catching Veronica off guard and throwing her off kilter.

In turn, Veronica tried to balance herself against the railing, refusing to be in a submissive position before Lilly.

Unfortunately, her moment of pause gave Lilly enough time to grab a fistful of her hair and push her further into the metal bars. "You don't get to judge me. You're nobody. You're worse than nobody. Because at least, if you didn't exist, you wouldn't be fucking up everyone's lives."

Veronica's vision blurred, rage and tears of pain clouding it. She gasped out, "I'm fucking up people's lives? Are you serious? Do you even hear yourself?!"

They struggled against each other for dominance, grappling for the upper hand. Holding her in a headlock, Veronica almost had Lilly down for the count when she registered Madison's voice calling out to her.

"Veronica! Watch out!"

Veronica sprang apart from Lilly in time to see Danny try to grab her and jumped further back.

Lilly took advantage of her unstable backwards momentum and added to it, shoving her further backwards.

Her back hit the metal bars before she knew what was happening. Her arms grasped for something solid to anchor her. Unfortunately, she only managed to pull the soft mass of whatever her hand was able to grab down with her.

She heard a surprised shriek before she fell. Her mind belatedly registered, as she blinked into unconsciousness, that it wasn't her.

.

Madison limped her way over to Lilly and Veronica, breaking the circle of 09ers. God, she didn't think there would be that much blood. There _shouldn't_ be that much blood.

Her first instinct was to call Logan. Thankfully, she suppressed that urge and more sensibly called 911 as the 09ers stood around their queen, tangled up in Veronica, keeping their wide circle around three of the girls now.

Madison though, they both had fallen over the railing, but the quad wasn't elevated too far off the ground, only a few feet. Unfortunately, she told herself, they fell headfirst.

There were shocked murmurings around her from the 09ers and some other spectators who watched from afar and moved closer after seeing the fall.

"Oh, God, did you see that?"

"Is she okay?"

"Is she awake?"

"Why aren't they opening their eyes?"

"Call help!"

"Are you crazy? We need to leave. My parents would _kill_ me."

"You're just going to leave them here?"

"Why don't _you_ stay then?"

"Hell, no. She's the fucking Sheriff's daughter. Our asses are going to fry for this."

The students clambered and tried to scurry away; pushing, shoving, and generally not giving a fuck about the two people on the ground.

Madison whistled loudly, the way she learned from a doorman when she was in grade school and she visited New York with her family. It stunned the crowd into deference, a tough feat for anyone, let alone someone struggling to stand.

Deceptively calm, Madison informed them, "I called 911. They're sending ambulances for the both of them. Some people from Sheriff's department are going to come, too, and you better believe Keith Mars is going to show up with them. All the witnesses are going to stay here. If you leave, I will personally serve you up on a silver platter to Veronica's father for leaving the scene of a crime. And, if any of you try to blame Veronica for this mess, I will be more than happy to tell Sheriff Mars that you were trying to frame his daughter."

Madison didn't really know if witnesses could get in any trouble for leaving the scene of a crime or refusing to give a statement, but her words were enough to keep them rooted to the spot.

Oh, the perks of being able to bull shit effectively.

Now, how to tell Logan, she thought, still staring down the skittish teenagers one by one. It startled her to think that this was how she used to act all the time. Still, an odd feeling of empowerment tingled through her.

.

Logan was there when Dick got the call from Madison. They were in the computer lab with Mac, who wanted to enlighten Logan on the advantageous aspects of OS X and was trying to convert him after seeing his offensive laptop software. Dick had tagged along in an attempt to convince Logan to go surfing with him later, definitely not to see Mac.

Neither had any idea what she was talking about and was thankful for the interruption.

Dick's relief lasted for only a few moments before Madison had told him what happened to Veronica and hung up quickly. When no one else's phone rang, Dick understood her grim intentions. She meant for him to tell everyone, including Logan.

She was a crafty one.

Logan asked, "What's wrong?"

Looking from side to side, he took a step back from Logan. He hoped Logan practiced the philosophy of not shooting the messenger.

.

Logan dashed to the back parking lot. There was a large crowd milling around, presumably around Veronica. His heart caught in his throat at the sight of the ambulance and flashing lights. Dick was right behind him, and Mac was doing her best for someone who spent most of her time behind a computer.

He spotted Madison, looking worse for wear, before he saw Veronica on a stretcher… and Lilly on an identical stretcher. Both girls were put onto an ambulance. The sirens blared in reminder. Of course it had to involve _her_.

"Madison, explain everything."

"Hold up, son. We need to be the ones getting that information first."

Keith Mars stood behind him, ashen-faced, eyes trained on Veronica being secured into the ambulance. He looked like he wanted to be in the ambulance with Veronica, not questioning her classmates.

"Uh, Sheriff?" Lowering his voice so the others wouldn't hear, the deputy told Keith, "I think they said something about maybe needing a blood transfusion? Maybe you should go to the hospital just in case. I think I can handle getting their statements."

Keith barely finished saying his thanks before his car peeled out of the parking lot, chasing the ambulance all the way to the hospital.

The same deputy cleared his throat, and said, "My name is Deputy D'Amato. I'm going to have to ask anyone not involved or a witness to please leave the area."

His tone left no room for argument, and Logan had none to offer. He ran straight for his own car.

Seeing Logan's quick retreat, Dick asked incredulously, "You're just going to go? What about Ronnie?"

"I'm going to the hospital, too," he explained shortly before pulling out in a manner that rivaled Keith's.

Dick stood silently before Mac prodded him into action.

"Come on, we can meet them up at the hospital. We still haven't told Wallace yet either."

"Wait!" Madison called out.

It jerked the two of them into awareness of their surroundings. They had forgotten she was there.

Hobbling towards them, she continued, "I want to go, too, and I can't drive myself like this."

The deputy stopped her. "I'm sorry, miss. I can't let you do that. You still haven't given your statement."

Affecting the most entitled and snotty voice she could, Madison coolly responded, "Excuse you. In case you haven't noticed, I'm injured. I need to go to a hospital. They're going to a hospital. You can get my statement later."

The deputy flustered. "I don't think… that's not exactly procedure."

Madison smiled tightly. "Fine. But I want you to be the one to tell my father, _Michael Sinclair_, that you were the one who refused to let his only daughter get medical attention because you just _had_ to get my statement despite the tens of other people who saw the same thing I did."

Mac imperceptibly shifted a little as Madison mentioned her father. While they were making progress, she still wasn't completely comfortable with their entire situation. However, it was obvious from her generally happy demeanor that Madison was. It probably had something to do with how well her relationship with Dick was doing, Mac thought, feeling a twinge of bitterness as she thought it, which she wrote off.

"M—Michael Sinclair? The one who—"

She cut him short. "Yeah. That one."

He must have been new if he couldn't pick out who was part of the elite and who wasn't. But, public humiliation wasn't her end game here. She just needed to leave.

"I'll be going now."

Still flustered, the deputy reached out a hand to stop her but quickly thought better of it and waved the three of them off. He mumbled, "Please come by the station to give your statement when you can. Thank you."

"No, thank _you_," she replied, leaning against Dick for support. She turned to Mac, "Where's Cassidy? Is he meeting us there?

Mac's eyes widened in horror. She was hesitant to admit that she didn't know where Cassidy was and hadn't even thought to tell him about Veronica.

"Don't you remember? He's out sick," Dick told Madison, not picking up on Mac's apprehension.

No, Mac didn't remember.

.

Dr. Aimes entered the private waiting room. There were no labels that marked it as such; however, it was an unspoken rule that that was what it was, made available only to the highly affluent members of Neptune. And for today, they included their Sheriff and his wife.

The doctor was cheerful, ready to deliver good news. Judging from how the girls sustained their injuries and the state in which they arrived at the hospital, the most serious thing about their cases would be that they'd need blood transfusions. However, both would be fine. Perhaps a slight concussion and some pain, but that would pass. The girls would be released within a week just as a precaution.

The good news went over as well as she expected, more so. However, when she explained that the hospital had a low blood supply because of the perpetual blood shortage and asked whether any of them were matches, Dr. Aimes could tell she walked into something she shouldn't have.

Almost immediately, Celeste Kane said she was a match but had anemia and thus would be ineligible for donation. However, the other three readily agreed.

Returning quickly with the test results—another privilege for the affluent Neptune bourgeois—,she thought, if it was tense before, then it was worse now.

The results showed that only Keith Mars was a match for Veronica.

Dr. Aimes shifted awkwardly on her feet, wondering perhaps if she should back away from the soap opera drama unfolding before her.

Jake Kane stated in disbelief, "That's not possible."

Keith calmly inquired, "And why wouldn't I be a match for my daughter, Jake?"

He blurted in response, "Because she's not your daughter!"

"Jake!" Lianne shouted.

"Oh, sure. Jake!" Celeste mocked. "Don't air your dirty secrets now."

"This isn't about you, right now, Celeste. My daughter could die in there!" He pleaded, "Lianne, say something."

Dr. Aimes tried to explain, "Actually, it's not that life-threatening. The girls—"

Celeste interrupted her. "It's never about me. Or even Lilly. Did you even think about your other daughter—" Other daughter as far as he knew, she thought. "—and how she's in there, too?"

"I didn't know," Lianne whispered. "I just—I just assumed because—"

"I had a paternity test done," Keith stated casually to no one in particular. He figured he might as well get them used to the idea now.

Lianne asked in confusion, "What? When? _Why_?"

"Come on, Lianne. We both know you never kept any of your promises."

"I was completely faithful to you," she lied. "Why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out? Didn't you think I deserved to know?"

Keith retorted, "Why would I need to tell you that I was the father of our child if you were faithful?"

Lianne shut her mouth.

Jake felt as if he had the floor pulled from underneath him.

Celeste was more tightlipped than usual.

Keith motioned for the doctor, unaffected by the others' apparent emotional turmoil.

Before leaving the room with the nervous doctor, he took the time to say, "Since we're sharing so many things today, just thought I'd say, being a match didn't necessarily make me her father. If you just thought things through, you'd know that, instead of jumping to conclusions and unnecessarily airing your dirty laundry. Right, doctor?"

Dr. Aimes squeaked a bit before clearing her throat. "Uh, right, Mr. Mars. Paternity tests are based on DNA, not just blood type."

The two left the room.

Cautiously, Jake said to his wife, "Celeste…"

Celeste uncharacteristically rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut _up_, Jake. The only surprising thing we found out today was that you weren't that girl's father."

.

At the same time, Logan, Mac, and Dick were denied information as to the whereabouts of Veronica Mars because they were unrelated. Apparently, being the somewhat boyfriend or friend of the patient does not grant any privileges whatsoever.

Wallace joined them after cutting practice short as soon as he found out and ended up waiting with them until the security guards were called to escort them out.

As a last resort, they all tried calling Veronica's parents but none of their calls were turned, and they were forced to head home.

.

The steady beeping and whirring of the machines were comforting as well as troubling. The girls were sleeping in adjacent beds.

Keith, Jake, Lianne, and Celeste had been sitting in the lumpy visitors' chairs for a few hours, hoping their daughters would wake up, despite Dr. Aimes claim that they would be asleep for much longer.

A nurse they didn't recognize entered the room holding a few manila folders.

Quietly, she went up to where they were sitting and asked Celeste, "Excuse me, Mrs. Kane." Her eyes shifted nervously. The Kane matriarch was disconcerting to say the least. "Do you—do you mind donating blood to your daughter? The head nurse just informed me that we just gave your daughter the second to last bag—"

"I told you, I'm anemic," she snapped impatiently.

The nurse faltered, stunned at her rudeness. "I heard. However, Dr. Aimes said that you said you were a match—"

Celeste looked disdainfully at the nurse. "Do you even _know_ what anemia is? What kind of nurse are you?"

The nurse flustered. She was a damn good nurse. Had been for over three years. And, she refused to take any flak from a housewife. However, she tried her best to maintain her professionalism.

Showing Celeste the files she had in her hands, she said, "As you can see, Mrs. Kane, I think someone made a mistake when they did your blood work and said you had anemia. It'd be impossible for Lilly to be blood type A when both you and Mr. Kane are blood type B. I mean, you said you were a match before, so you should've noticed the change in your listed blood type, too, right? Your previous hospital must have gotten your blood sample mixed up with someone who was anemic and not noticed. Actually… these results don't even show that other person having anemia, but regardless, we can have you tested now to see if—"

Celeste paled. This was not how she wanted Jake, _or anyone_,to find out, if at all. Her shiny world was showing cracks.

"Get out," Celeste demanded.

The nurse's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Get out!" She repeated.

"I'm just trying to help—"

"Do you know how much money my husband and I have donated to this hospital? If you want that to continue, I'd suggest you _run_ to another hospital if you're out of my daughter's blood type!"

The nurse clamped her mouth shut and angrily left the room.

Jake, Keith, and Lianne stared at Celeste in puzzlement.

Like before, Jake only said one word to his wife. However, this time, he spoke in an entirely different tone. "Celeste…"

Celeste didn't bother to deny it. It would be pointless when proof could be so easily obtained. However, she refused to accept blame. "Get off your high horse. It was your fault it happened. And it was your fault you didn't notice. She's a _blonde_ for God's sake."

Jake walked out of the room. Neither of the girls he thought were his was actually related to him.

.

The next day, the headlines screamed scandal.

Tabloids claimed that a source in the hospital had said that it was impossible for Lilly Kane to be Jake Kane's daughter and had all the hospital records to prove it. Though no paternity tests were done, the informant detailed the reactions of Celeste Kane while the writers wrote their own conclusions to spoon feed to their readers.

To add to the scandal, the informant had also revealed that Veronica Mars was not Jake Kane's daughter either, stating that Jake had previously believed that Veronica was his daughter from an affair seventeen years ago.

The source also said that Celeste Kane was a bitch, but that wasn't printed in any of the articles.

To put the cherry on top, as well as the whipped cream, the tabloids heavily implied that the girls were fighting over whose claim on the Kane inheritance was more legitimate.

A few of the tabloids even ran profiles on Lilly and Veronica, painting both as spoiled teenagers.

.

Duncan burst into the private room Celeste had arranged for Lilly.

"Quiet, Duncan. She's still sleeping… How'd you get in here?" Celeste asked.

"I told them I was Lilly's brother." He waved around the magazines and newspapers in his hand and continued, "But I guess I was lying, huh? I'm only her half-brother."

Celeste's eyes widened. "You shouldn't be reading that. They're all lies!"

"Are they?! How do you explain the hospital records? It's all here. Why didn't you tell me? Where's dad? I want answers from him, too. He told me Veronica was my _sister_! Do you know what I… what I…," he trailed off.

Celeste placed her hands on his arm to calm him. She begged to her sole shining light in her life, "Duncan, honey, please."

"No, mom!" He tried to shake loose from her hold. "Just stop. How long were you all planning to lie to me?"

"I had to… I couldn't tell anyone…"

"I loved her, mom. I loved her…"

He dropped to the sterile floor of the room, finally allowing his mother to comfort him and circle her arms around him.

Celeste could only offer her apologies.

.

It wasn't until a couple of days later that Keith had allowed Veronica to have any visitors, despite Veronica's insistence that she was more than fine by the second day. He did not appreciate her attempts to prove her healthiness by doing a handstand in the least.

Logan was the first to visit, naturally. Keith had spotted him camped out on the floor. He suspected that Logan had bribed one of the nurses to tell him where Veronica's room was. While he frowned upon bribing hospital staff, he was impressed by Logan's commitment to his daughter, one that would probably prove to bite him in the ass later, but he'll let it slide for now.

Logan intentionally delayed telling her friends that she was allowed visitors in order to have some private time with her before she got overloaded with visitors. So, Wallace, Carmen, Cassidy, Dick, Madison, and Mac were only able to visit her the day after. Much to her surprise, Weevil visited her, too, sneaking in some of Mrs. Navarro's authentic and homemade Mexican cuisine that he knew she loved. Yum, tamales.

However, even more surprisingly, but not nearly as welcome, Duncan showed up to visit her as well.

She was taking advantage of the rare lull in visitors and was doing her assigned reading when he walked in.

"I got these for you," Duncan announced, placing a lavender vase of roses on her bedside table. He noticed that she had received flowers from others, too. However, only he got her roses. The others seemed to only get her an assortment of various colors of daffodils. He supposed that roses were quite expensive this time of year.

Brusquely, she asked, "Did you want a gold star?"

His presence instantly raised her suspicions. She wanted to know why he was visiting her when his sister—_half-sister_, Logan said—on another floor. He had to have known that she was moved to another room by now; it'd been days. Thank goodness she was moved before Veronica woke up, too, she thought. She didn't know what would happen if the two of them were in the same room so soon after the debacle.

He smiled at her, and it made her skin crawl.

Not noticing her discomfort, he unromantically and bluntly stated, "I like you. I never wanted to hurt you. Lilly made me go along with everything, but I've still always liked you anyway."

Veronica was struck dumb. There was silence before she asked, "Are you serious?"

Taken aback by her less than receptive response, he said, "I really am."

Quickly, she pointed out, "Aren't you and Meg together?"

"She'll understand."

She put down her book and picked up Logan the bear from where Duncan had sandwiched him between his own flowers and Logan's. Holding Logan the bear to her stomach protectively, she said, "Somehow, I doubt that. So I have to ask again, are you fucking serious?"

"I like you, Veronica," he repeated.

She clenched her teeth. "You've got a _hilarious_ way of showing it."

"That was all Lilly!" He shouted.

She held Logan the bear tighter. Theoretically, with all her progress and training, she shouldn't have been afraid of Duncan, but her stay in the hospital left her somewhat weak. And, an agitated person was always unpredictable.

Still, she argued, "It doesn't matter if Lilly told you to do it. You listened to her."

"I had no choice."

Veronica continued, "Everyone has a choice. Like Meg. Meg chose to stay with you, despite me _and everyone else _telling her otherwise." She shook her head from side to side in disappointment and soberly said, "You're as bad as your sister. And, I really don't want to tell Meg about this, but if you don't leave now, you can bet I will."

Duncan rumbled in frustration. This wasn't how he pictured things would go after he discovered that he and Veronica weren't related.

She was ruining his shot at making it up to her and their happy ending. Everything would be fixed if she just would fucking stop being so stubborn. He knew she felt the same way about him. She had to.

He was ready to argue more. However, another girl entered the room. On his way out, he bumped into her without apologizing.

Carmen eyed him in confusion and annoyance. She wasn't aware that Veronica was on good terms with Duncan Kane.

"Uh, hey, V. What was that?"

"That… was a waste of a human being. But it runs in the family, I guess. How've you been?"

"Nuh-uh. I don't think people in hospitals are allowed to ask others how they're doing. How have _you_ been?"

"Carmen, I've been stuck to this bed for so long, I have bed sores on my ass."

"Do you kiss your father with that mouth?"

"Do you kiss Eli with yours?"

Carmen shyly looked down. "Fair enough…"

"How are you two doing?"

"We're good. Having fun. I think we're keeping it casual right now. He's tons better than Tad though."

Veronica clicked her tongue in annoyance at the mention of Tad. "Is that asshole still trying to get you back?"

Carmen sat in the chair placed next to the head of her bed. "Yeah. You think your dad will help me get a restraining order?"

"_I'll_ help you get a restraining order as soon as I'm out of here. How's Mac doing with my website, by the way?"

"I think she said something about you being Bond and her not knowing how to handle the sleuth-y side of things."

"So she's getting the hang of things?"

"She's demanding a bigger cut of the profits," Carmen laughed.

"Geez. It's only been a few days, and everything's falling apart with me," she teased.

"We do miss you," she said sincerely. "When are you getting out of here?"

"Sunday afternoon. Thank God. Any longer and I'll be tunneling out."

"Yeah, this is the longest I've seen you stay still since you twisted your ankle after that soccer match."

"Oh, right! I forgot about that match. I should have kicked her when I had the chance. She tripped me on purpose."

"But then she would've pulled your hair, and you'd pull hers, and Mrs. Wilkins would've had to call your parents and put you two in time out. And then who would I have had to finger paint with?"

"Whatever." Veronica waved her hand dismissively. "Even at seven years old, I knew Angie Dahl was a bitch."

Carmen eyed the bear that Veronica played with in her hands. She recognized it as the bear Logan had given to her for Valentine's Day and smiled knowingly to herself. "That you did."

Looking up from the bear, Veronica asked, "Have you seen my dad lately?"

Carmen cocked her head to the side. "Not really. Hasn't he been visiting?"

"Constantly, but he's always pretending to be happy because he doesn't want to worry me. He doesn't think I know about what everyone's been saying or that I've read all the stories…"

"I figured. Logan's still walking."

"Did somebody say my name?" Logan swept into the room bearing yet another bouquet of daffodils. Today, they were yellow. He kissed her and Logan the bear quickly before adding today's flowers to the growing collection she had on her bedside table.

"Admit it," Carmen teased. "You were waiting for it."

"I think I'll take a out a page from your boyfriend's playbook and plead the fifth."

Smirking, she said, "Saw him down the hall glaring at Duncan. There was definitely enough time for him to wait to make some big entrance."

Veronica giggled, honest to God. But it may have been a side effect of the medication they gave her to ease the pain.

"See. That kind of talk is why you're not invited to my birthday party."

Carmen tilted her head in challenge to Logan. She placed a hand on Veronica's head. "I guess I'll just be V's plus one."

Logan swatted her hand off of Veronica's head before placing his atop of it. Veronica wrinkled her nose in slight irritation. They were being childish.

"_I'm_ her plus one."

"You're the host."

"Your point?"

"You're crazy."

"Oh, shit. Birthday?" Veronica said in realization. "It can't be. What day is it today?"

They both paused to stare at her.

"You have your cue. I have mine," Carmen suddenly declared. "See you, V. Bye, Logan."

Veronica absentmindedly remarked, "These drugs are making me think funny. I just realized he doesn't have a nickname."

Carmen barely skipped a beat and said, "Okay. You have fun with Lolo then."

.

Outside the hospital, Carmen climbed onto the back of Weevil's motorcycle.

Weevil observed, "That was a quick visit."

Putting on a helmet that gave her unfortunate helmet hair, Carmen said, "Logan stopped by. She forgot his birthday. You should've come in to visit with me."

"You know I had things to do," he said gruffly.

Disappointed by her boyfriend's standoffishness towards Veronica, Carmen said, "She would've wanted to see you, you know. Don't tell me you guys still don't think you're friends."

"Alright, I get it. It's just—How's she been lately?"

"Good. She's getting released tomorrow."

"That's good." Weevil nodded, inserting the keys into his motorcycle and starting the engine. Hesitating slightly, he asked, "Has she talked to you about anything?"

"Anything?"

"You know, anything big," he elaborated.

"Just the usual. Why?"

"Nothing… just nothing."

Without warning, Weevil sped out of the hospital visitor zone and towards their neighborhood, not giving Carmen any chance to inquire about his odd behavior.

Truthfully, Weevil didn't have things to do today, nothing important or that had to be done immediately anyway.

Weevil didn't want to visit Veronica because the last time he visited Veronica, he wanted to punch a wall. Actually, he wanted to punch Duncan Kane, whom he saw sniffing around Veronica's room, which was nowhere near Lilly's. That fucker was up to something, and he didn't like it. He and Carmen ended up staying until all the visitors had to leave that day because he didn't feel safe leaving Veronica alone while there was the possibility Duncan would get her alone without others around to protect her.

He swore. A sudden thought came to mind. What if Veronica didn't even find out yet? She wouldn't even know to avoid him or be afraid. More solemnly, he wondered how she dealt with it alone when it was apparent that she told no one. And, as much as he wanted to help, that person couldn't be him either.

Weevil held his anger in check that one time, but only just barely because Carmen was with him. He didn't think Carmen would accept that he beat up Duncan Kane just because he was standing around Veronica's room. And he didn't want to be put in a situation where he could accidentally reveal something that wasn't his to reveal.

Not that he'd let any woman control him, of course. But then again, Carmen wasn't just any woman.

.

"I feel like I just lost a game I wasn't aware I was playing."

"That's okay, Lolo. So it's your birthday…?"

"Yep," Logan grinned.

She held Logan the bear up as a sacrifice in an attempt to appease him. "I completely forgot. I'm _so_ sorry."

"Hey, it's okay. I think you're allowed to forget a few things when you get sent to the hospital."

"It wasn't _that_ serious," she maintained.

"How many stitches did you have to get?"

"Seven. But that was on my arm. My head was fine. Really…"

Logan scooted her over to one side of the bed to sit on her bed with her. He poked Logan the bear and took it from her hands, putting his own hands around hers.

"You won't need that thing while I'm around."

She flicked his shoulder. "We were doing just fine without you."

"He goes in the trash if he tries to get you to run away with him."

"Oh, you know he and I can't run away together. His legs are too stubby."

"That doesn't stop _you_ from running."

She flicked his ear in retaliation.

"Ouch. Yeah. You're definitely good if you're already this abusive."

"I told you," she singsonged. "What are you doing here anyway? One, it's apparently your birthday… Sorry. And two, I told you I was getting released tomorrow."

"It's _because_ of reason one that I'm here. Don't you know that that people can do whatever they want to when it's their birthday?"

"I think I missed that lecture while I was trying to get you to stop deluding yourself…" She bit her lip. "I'm so, so sorry..."

"If you're really sorry…"

She nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

"… then, you won't mind wearing this."

He pulled out a white, narrow box from his pocket and handed it to her.

"I really don't think you know how birthdays work," she said.

"Au contraire, ma chère. Just open it."

Veronica complied and lifted open the top of the box, revealing a simple platinum, though she didn't know that, choker with a pendant with a tracker inside, though she didn't know that either.

Holding the chocker aloft, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Is that an 'L' for Logan? You're really in love with yourself, you know. You should probably get that checked out while we're in a building filled with professionals."

He tapped the tip of her nose and tilted the pendant in her hands. "No. It's a 'V'. See?"

"No. It's an 'L'."

"It's a 'V'," he insisted. "They just didn't connect the other side of the 'V' to hold it up properly."

"So it'd just coincidentally look like an 'L' whenever I'd wear it…"

"You know, I never thought of it that way. But I guess you're right. You always did say you were smart."

"Just help me put it on," she commanded. She touched her hand to the choker now hanging around her neck. "Why does this remind me of a collar?"

"Manifestation of subconscious desires?"

"Right. Is this your way of _subtly_ marking your territory?"

"Beats peeing on you. But if you give me some water and promise not to look…"

"Eww, gross," she laughed. "I wasn't going to argue about that."

"Excellent." Carefully, he asked, "So how are you holding up with everything?"

Veronica knew he wasn't just talking about her visit to the hospital. "I asked _Lianne_ about it. She said it was a onetime thing, but I don't know… I should be able to trust her, right?"

With his parents' track record, Logan wasn't the best person to talk to about parental issues. So, he simply said, "It'd be her fault if you didn't."

In a soft voice, she said, "I've just been so blinded to all the signs and by the things she does because she's my mother… I don't know. I think I have to tell my dad I know. I need to talk to him…"

Logan kissed the top of her head to comfort her.

He stayed by Veronica's side as the two of them worked on homework. Neptune's teachers were surprisingly unsympathetic towards hospital patients and only gave her a week deferral on class work.

Once Keith got off work and came to the hospital, Logan left to give them privacy, stealthily kissing Veronica once more before Keith could kick him out and accuse him of desanctifying his daughter and his eyes.

.

When Lilly Kane was released from the hospital, she dropped the Kane from her name. It was gone, just like her father. Though, if Lilly were being technical, when wasn't he gone?

Celeste didn't know where he went. Neither did Duncan. She suspected the higher ups at his company knew. Otherwise, there'd be a panic.

Regardless, Lilly was ready to make her own splash. What better way to follow up one adulterous story with another, juicier one?

The meeting she had planned with the tabloid reporter was delayed because of her unfortunate accident and her infuriating and _more_ unfortunate revelation that she was not biologically related to the father she resented, the father who, in actuality, had no obligations towards her thanks to her cheating, lying bitch of a mother for whom the phrase 'son of a bitch' must have been coined..

As the meeting with the reporter was delayed, so was the meeting with the photographer she blackmailed into helping in exchange for her keeping quiet on a few events, thank you fake ID and seedy clubs. They rescheduled as well, but he said he wouldn't be able to give her the rest of the photos until the end of the week. The idiot was lucky she was feeling generous since she was so close to tasting victory.

Everything would be ready to print just in time to make the cover of their April issue. For Lilly, it wasn't enough that the scandal was in the local papers, it had to be national news, too.

She had initially planned to censor her face in the photos but no longer.

She had resolved to take down her own family as well as Logan's.

The world would see: like pseudo-father, like mother, like daughter. A fucked up family full of adulterers.

Or simply, just like mother, like daughter as Lilly wanted the sound bite to read.

Lilly hoped that Celeste enjoyed her time with the paparazzi now because they weren't going to go away anytime soon. Their current scandal and frenzy was going to pale in comparison to the shit storm that would follow Lilly's story.

.

Veronica was back on the grind immediately after she was released from the hospital and began by relieving Mac of her duties as temporary Bond. After she caught up, Veronica started putting together a file for Lynn, documenting Lilly and Aaron's affair. All that was really left to do was filter through the photos to hand to her father to give to Lynn.

She worked in her room, shutting out the nuclear cold chill between her mother and father.

Pausing at one of her last photos of the two outside the Neptune Grande, she noticed a glare off to the side in the decorative bushes. It just wouldn't go away as she flipped through to the other photos from that time. However, the glare would occasionally disappear and reappear throughout the photos.

Quickly, she looked at the other sets of photos. Why didn't she notice it before?

In the limo, outside the Kane property, the Neptune Grande, and even the last meeting at the Camelot. Everywhere.

She ran to her laptop and pulled up her file on Lilly. She magnified the pictures where the glare had disappeared for a few frames.

It was another person. He, she guessed, was in a lot of her photos, holding what she knew was a camera.

She had to find out who he was. If he was working for the tabloids, she couldn't let him release the photos. Logan and Lynn would be ambushed by the bloodthirsty paparazzi even more than usual. She couldn't let that happen.

.

Over the next couple of days, Veronica ended up following Lilly around but caught no sight of Aaron. She knew they had stopped meeting after Lilly went to the hospital, but she didn't think they would stop completely.

She felt hopeless. She was out of ideas as to how to find out the identity of the mystery photographer before she even started.

However, one day while she was following Lilly, out of habit more than intuition, Veronica spotted the photographer approaching Lilly at a café. Veronica assumed that the photographer was there to try to blackmail Lilly. However, there was no anger or fright spreading across Lilly's features. Rather, she looked like the cat that ate the canary, got the cream, whatever. Lilly was _pleased_. And, that was never good.

Veronica watched as the photographer handed Lilly an envelope and said something to her. He looked relieved when Lilly gave him an envelope she pulled from her bag and dismissed him.

She wasn't.

She couldn't.

Veronica slammed her fists against her steering wheel. Quickly, she took down the license plate of the car that the photographer got in. There really was no excuse for her surprise.

Of course she would.

Which means it was time for her to do something she never thought she would do again. Enter the Kane mansion.

.

Veronica's fears were confirmed when she looked up the mystery photographer. His name was Charles Burns. He worked as a freelance photographer for a lot of tabloids and newspapers, specializing in following celebrity couples and catching them _in flagrante_. Only, he caught them minus their significant other and plus another. She couldn't believe Lilly had orchestrated and would publicize an affair with Logan's father just to hurt Logan.

But, she could believe that Lilly would do everything in her power to hurt _her_. Veronica was only sorry that Logan and Lynn might have gotten hurt because of her vendetta with Lilly.

She slid open the side entrance to Lilly's room, unlocked like always. She went out a few moments ago and wouldn't be back for a while judging by the time of night she left. It was good to see that some things never changed.

However, it felt creepy being there again. After everything that happened. After all the secrets that were overturned. And here she was, looking for yet another one.

If those photos ever see the light of day, then it would be on Lynn's terms, not Lilly's.

Veronica twisted the screws to the vent loose and took off the grate that framed it. Reaching her hand in, she pulled everything out.

There were the items she expected would be there; photos of Lilly's past trysts, letters, trinkets, whatever she wanted to keep hidden from Celeste. Then there was the envelope she was hoping to find

She took everything, left a card, and put the grate back on the vent.

Her business here was done.

.

A/N: **Please read the following if you want some background info or explanations. **

Timeline overview: Fourth week of February. Lilly and Veronica end up in the hospital. Lilly and Veronica's paternities are revealed. First week of March. Veronica turns Duncan down. Lilly and Veronica are released from the hospital. Second week of March. Veronica uncovers Lilly's plans and steals proof of the affair.

Spoilers for the next chapter: A bit of Lilly. More Carmen. The infamous laptop. Another fight. Another trip to the hospital. Also, Meg. Poor, poor, sweet, gullible Meg. That's the plan anyway… the next chapter is going to be killer to write. If it gets to be too long, I may have to split up the chapter because I don't think you guys want to wait too long (?).

To **Astranti**: Veronica does not have Duncan's laptop anymore, just a copy of his data on her external hard drive. To **JeniLyn**: Lynn will be alright eventually… To **guest**: Thanks! ^^ Unfortunately, Veronica in this story and Veronica on the show aren't too keen on talking. I hope you enjoyed the Madison bits in this story then haha. To **spoilerlover**: Madison genuinely likes Dick. She always has; really, she just put other things ahead of him during her bitchy stage. The most I can say about Madison/Dick/Mac/Cassidy is that Mac and Madison's friendship will be fine… so far as I planned anyway. To **lilywang69**: Sorry, Veronica hasn't read the info on Duncan's laptop because other things got in the way (for example: Mac, the job for Lynn, and Logan (not that I blame her for getting side tracked by him)). Weevil hasn't acted on what he found out because, since it's a personal and sensitive subject matter, he's waiting for Veronica to tell him how she wants to handle things.

Fun fact: Langdon Alger and Charles Burns are Simpsons references. Go Simpsons! ^^ Also. It's 3am. I have class at 8am, so I can't read this through again. Sorry for not making the promised Wednesday deadline… I suggest rereading this chapter again in a day or two, too… Just in case you want to catch the better edited version.

As I _repeatedly _reread my story, I regret not making Veronica more flawed. At this point, I feel like the other characters are more interesting. And, I think I definitely could've also spent more time on this story and developed it more, too, but unfortunately, I overestimated my writing abilities/free time. So, this story doesn't flow as well as it should. And since it'd be very difficult to redo everything at this point, and I don't want to leave it unfinished (in fact, I want to finish it as quickly as possible before I lose my muse and take years to finish like my other stories), I'm going to continue as is. Sorry...

Also, blah. I felt the hospital scene was a bit too convenient. Not my best work, but I just wasn't feeling it. I apologize and will do better with other scenes. You may have noticed some scenes are better written than others. It's because I liked some scenes more than the others. ): Also, please remember I never claimed this story would be realistic or that writing is anything other than one of my interests… Don't hurt me. Or judge the story too harshly based on this chapter. I may plan to do an overhaul once the story is actually complete.

Double also. I had to cut scenes from Mac/Dick/Cassidy/Madison's perspectives and their interactions because, after destroying my soul by writing short essay answers that still aren't completely finished, I _really_ wasn't feeling it. However, they weren't particularly necessary to the story, so it's all good. Unless you were really looking forward to those scenes, in which case, I'm sorry. Have a cookie.

Edit: ... So this just happened. I posted this chapter a few hours ago. Yet, mere hours after posting it, I had to help a girl who fell down some steps... Am I... Am I Veronica now? Am I writing my own life story? ._. Should I not stand near metal railings and girls I hate? More importantly, where the hell is MY Logan?


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